It's Only a Pop Song - A Pragmatists Analysis of "Imagine" by John Lennon.

So much of the present-day woke mentality is steeped in the brew of a Popular song by written by John Lennon, plus a rather uninformed view of the Summer of Love and the philosophy of the Hippies of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

But it is most important to understand that "Imagine" is a Pop Song, not a serious world-view.

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky

Commentary: Fluffy words... Heaven, Hell, sky... nothing particularly seditious here, but if you want to try communism because John Lennon said that it's easy if you try, don't believe it for a minute.  Communism and Socialism has failed miserably the world over.  It's history is marred by human rights violations that persist to this day in Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela and everywhere that it's been attempted. Socialism is utter nonsense. My naive 16 year-old step-son asked me why we need to have money in the world?  He also wanted to know why a house isn't free.  He finds these concepts easy to imagine. Well, I explained to him that no one is going to build a nice house for you if there is no financial incentive why would they do that.  You would have to build the house yourself. You'd have to be expert in all of the trades that are necessary to build your house: structural architecture, procurement and supply chain management, planning, design, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, Plumbing, Framing, Drywall, Painting, Tile Work, and the like.  Most people in the United states live in very nice homes and apartments that would not be available if everything was free.  Furthermore, who would manufacture automobiles, build roads, highways street signs and street lights without the exchange of currency?  Finally, who is going to grow your food.  In short Capitalism enables specialization, so that one person doesn't have to do everything under the sun in order to achieve a good life.  If there is no currency, who will operate the government and what is the benefit of being a public servant?

Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Ah

Commentary In the original recording, John Lennon sings, "Ahaaaa..."  This is an Aha moment all right! If you live only for today, then you are not striving to better yourself for tomorrow. You would likely develop into a morbidly obese person carrying 100+ pounds of fat if you don't take care of your body while you are living for today.

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too

Commentary: This is what Christians and Jews alike ought to fear!  "... and no religion, too" If there were no countries, then who is going to decide which side of the road that you should drive on?  who decides where the highway ends.  How would you even travel from one place to another if you wanted to visit:

1) Your cousin in the old country

2)  Your parents

3)  Your high school pals.

4)  Mount Everest.

5) Etc.

This is not to infer that killing or dying for a cause is a good thing.

Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
You

Commentary:  This is an inverted predicate.  You should live your life in peace!  All must strive to live your life in peace.

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Commentary: "One world is enough for all of us" - with apologies to The Police (the band).  That is until the population exceeds the capacity of the planet....Furthermore, China is not interested in the "one world" mantra.  They fully intend to dominate this world and annex as much land as possible, whether it be Taiwan, the Philippine Islands, Indonesia, Japan and even Alaska (if they can get their hands on it!)

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Commentary: Another plug for socialism.  I repeat.  who will build your house if there are no possessions?  Will you even own or have control over your house when you live in it? Enough said.  Imagine that there is no house.  No streets, highways, bridges, no clothes, no food.  We'd be living life just like our Cro-Magnon ancestors. In caves.  Everyone would be hungry.  As for "A brotherhood of man" - This is utterly chauvanistic!  Why not a sisterhood?

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You...

Commentary: Well, if we have no houses, no possessions, no food, we would indeed be sharing all the world, but much like Cro-Magnon did!

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Commentary:  ... And the world will live as one... what? One society... no.  One anarchy...Precisely!

The history of nations is that we engaged in discourse about the purpose of society and social change.  The problem that we have today is a minority of the people are dictating what changes will be implemented, and I don't care for this nonsense.  People less educated than I are dictating what is right and what is wrong.  That is a problem... a big problem, because I don't consider myself exceptionally well educated.