The nation had come into existence, historically, as a device for protecting the lives, the institutions, and the property of its people, at least in those states in which property existed. And the function of the state had been just that, which is to provide a means of protecting the group, an extension of the tribal philosophy. But with atomic weapons, no nation was able any longer to perform its historic function. And yet we persisted in thinking that it did. The form existed but the ability to fulfill that particular function was annihilated along with the city of Hiroshima.