I see your point. I might have been too absolute in my statement. Those ideals obviously informed physical action and outcomes, but the ideals themselves are not real in a physical sense.

There's nothing tying them to reality except for the people who chose to believe them. There's no bounds to how those ideals are translated into action.

I'm not sure if I've fully formulated what I'm trying to get across yet, but maybe you see what I'm getting at.