Richard Koenigsberg shows how the individual ego identifies itself with the national one, claiming that human beings exist in a symbiotic relationship with their societies. Individuals identify very profoundly and our ego may become one with the national ego.

According to Koenigsberg, Foucault should be read backwards: it is not the discourse that shapes the body; instead, the body is a source of discourse. Body politic is not a mere metaphor, but expresses the fact that the nation is experienced as a body.