The state is a concept.
Government is an idea.
The physical manifestation of this idea is the network of people and institutions which enforce this idea upon the people. The state is a myth. It is self-contradictory, and yet billions of people the world over have bought into this myth. Doublethink means the holding of two contradictory external opinions with no internal conflict between the two. The state, unfortunately, has achieved godlike status in today's society.