John Lennon's Song- Imagine is a Utopia

Lyrics to the song are in the following link: http://www.lyrics007.com... Imagine has ranked as the number 23 song in the UK in the year 2000. It's been played on New Year's Eve in 2005 before the ball drop. It's been played in all countries around the world. Whilst this may have been a very good song musically what if you take a step back and look at the lyrics? There are some major flaws with this imaginary world John Lennon has created for us with his song. That is why not looking in terms of music, but rather in terms of philosophy I disagree strongly with this song. The main reasons are no reason left to be living and a loss of diversity. The first reason why I'm strongly against this song is that there is no reason left to be living. One of the lines of the song is "Nothing to kill or die for" (John Lennon); if that line came true, then what's the point in even living. If you have no principals or relations that you'd defend for everything, then why live. If you don't have a family who you'd sacrifice yourself for; if you don't wake up each day for something, then would that be a good place to live. The greater debate here is is it worth sacrificing everything you care about to keep peace and never take a risk. I'd argue that it absolutely isn't. The song also contradicts itself in this sense because it talks about a brotherhood of man and the world living as one. That isn't possible because you're not prepared to sacrifice yourself for anything or anyone, so how could you really be living in a brotherhood of man? It also talks about having no possessions. I question this too. You might have no need for greed or hunger, but is that the point? If you have no possession that you care about, then you lose all ambition. If you're not so caring about the wedding ring of your wife who died a week ago that you'd go into a fire to save it. I'd argue that greed and hunger in modest amounts can be good because that is ambition which fuels discovery and innovation. If you're competing with somebody else for a job, this song seems to be recommending that you just give up because you shouldn't have the hunger or drive to get it. Overall, there is no point in living if you follow the exact guidelines of this song. The second problem is a lack of diversity. There wouldn't be any countries to travel to. No religions to explore. Everything would be similar to you. Even if there are wars and conflicts, it's worth it to keep that religion. To keep the diversity. You cannot have a world with no religions. Again there's nothing that you care about so much that you'd be prepared to do anything for it. If we followed the advise in this song, we'd probably not be having this debate right now because it would require us to be to like minded. You don't go to different countries to see different experiences in the world of the song. Everywhere would be just like your own country. There wouldn't be religions where people get to clearly express themselves, and thus, this song also implies a lack of freedom. Overall, diversity would be ruined by this song. Overall, this song isn't a utopia. It's a dreadful world where there's nothing to live for and no diversity. It's a dull world where while there may be no conflicts, there's nothing to cherish, to care for, to love either. It ruins diversity and the whole point of living. I'd like to finish with a quote about diversity which demonstrates my point as to why diversity is essential, and I believe the world of the song would ruin it. "Diversity in the world is a basic characteristic of human society, and also the key condition for a lively and dynamic world as we see today" (Jinato Hu). Sources: http://www.lyrics007.com... http://en.wikipedia.org...(song) http://www.brainyquote.com...