Yes, I've also thought of governments and religions as competing organisms. Surviving and evolving over millenia, passing on memetic information instead of genetic. Using every trick in the book to survive, multiply and kill competitors.
But we elected them to represent us! They
are us!
I still carry a little faith that a more symbiotic ( to humans and environment ) parasite may become the winning one some day. Maybe technology like bitcoin will help us with that.
In that case why would you call it a "parasite" rather than a symbiot, or a "less parasitic symbiotic system"?