Doug says: "Statehood is a goal that can unite people as they fight for it." Has this ever happened? I don't know of any instance, and it's hard to imagine how it could happen in any society that has class struggle. Which is to say, no society that exists. This is why nationalism was "invented"--to give state formation a basis that bypassed capital-labor antagonism. Statehood is not a social bond anyone believes in or can fight for, and so it can only exist when it's grafted on to other forms.