The bodies of dead and wounded soldiers anchor belief in the material world. The frenzy of battle persuades us that nations are more than merely "imaginary communities;" that ideologies are more than social constructions.

In the midst of war, people reflect: surely human beings would not—could not—be dying and killing for no-thing. The alternative hypothesis is preferable: human beings are dying and killing for some-thing.

Dead and mangled bodies on the field of battle imply the existence of some "thing" that has produced or given rise to the dead and mangled bodies. What has produced such violence and frenetic activity? What has justified the expenditure of vast quantities of human and material capital?

The fact that war has generated such manic activity in the name of this thing—whatever this thing may be—suggests that this thing must be real. We find it difficult to conceive that human beings could produce the monumental performance that we call war in the name of no-thing.