The mine, like Charles Gould's house, has become a State, with its own political dream-ideal uniting its members. The dream-ideal is imaginary (a "fetish" in which the "ignorant" put their "trust"), and what really unites them is the mine's strength. The State is formed, according to this, originally as a defensive formation: it is "a powerful organization" with a "protecting and invincible virtue" that bequeaths "protection and force" on its members.