Temporada 4 · Autopsia de los Gigantes · JVV-T4-16
Mushroom-State vs. Plant-State: fungal rhizome against vertical root
I Two botanies, two politics
- Plant-State — the classic image: trunk, branches, sap rising, fruit falling; it matches the vertical apparatus: parliament, ministry, data pipeline.
- Mushroom-State — the vision of Anna Tsing (fungal economy) crossed with Bruno Latour (actor-networks): a horizontal mycelium that infiltrates, recycles, connects rubble and hosts.
“The root claims property, the mycelium claims passage.”
II Comparative political taxonomy
| Trait | Plant-State (Latour: Modern) | Mushroom-State (Tsing × Latour) |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Trunk of hierarchy, root of sovereignty | Distributed mycelium, optional nodes |
| Resource flow | One-way sap, Centre → Periphery | Recirculation; waste = nutrient |
| Legal regime | Parcelled property | Rhizomatic right of way |
| Typical crisis | Cut the trunk → total collapse | A local infection, the network holds |
| 2026 example | Supertanker-Nation (the Gulf) | The Fungi-State of Chiapas (Season 3) |
III Equation of mycelial resilience
R = 1 - \prod_{i=1}^{n} (1 - p_i)
- p_i = the probability that an alternate node can take over the flow if one node fails.
- Plant-State: n low, p_i low → R ≈ 0.2.
- Mushroom-State: n high, p_i medium → R ≈ 0.8.
IV Border conflict – a fictional 2026 case
- The Amazonian Plant-State grants a lithium concession; 800 ha are felled.
- The insurgent mycelium injects Trichoderma spores into the eucalyptus roots; the trees “turn traitor”, rotting the machinery.
- The government applies fungicide; the mycelium retreats, resprouts 3 km downstream.
- Lithium halted for 9 months, the Plant-State loses credit; the Mushroom-State wins global sympathy.
V Strategies of coexistence
| Hybrid | Mechanics | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Root-share DAO | The plantation gives 15 % of profit to the fungal cooperative | The mycelium can sabotage if payment is late |
| Notarial mycelium | Soil traceability via LoRa sensors in the hyphae | Hacking the geodata = carbon fraud |
| Parliamentary rhizome | The citizens' chamber runs as a temporary swarm | Inefficiency if the nodes saturate |
VI Test ritualsafe
-
01
Lay oyster mycelium on damp cardboard, plant a mint cutting on top.
-
02
Watch for 7 days: root and hypha cooperate with no hierarchy.
-
03
Write down the politics that emerges: a tax on the sun? a right to shade?
VII Coda
“When the trunk falls, the mycelium will go on telling stories underground.”
The alternative is not to fell every Plant-State, but to prune branches and plant corridors for the fungal threads.
Because where a bulldozer sees weeds, the rhizome sees a motorway.
Choose: raise another trunk, or sow a network that outlives the axe?