Imagine

I was listening to Joan Baez's cover of Imagine yesterday. It's a good cover. I found myself wondering about a world united rather than divided by nation-states, povery and war. Will it ever be possible to achieve the kind of world that Lennon's lyrics describes? Some people may feel his lyrics describe a kind of unachievable, utopian ideal. Perhaps so but it would be a wonderful model to work towards. It's interesting and extremely sad that the place you are born into can map out whether you will be poor or relatively rich. It should be possible for each child that enters the world to have a chance to live a wonderful life. I saw a film once called Pay it Forward - as an American blockbuster it had the usual sugar-coated moments of corny but also it had a great message of passing on kindness. I really felt that it was a good blueprint for life. As Lennon says "you may say that 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". I hope for this. I'm in danger of sounding like a modern-day hippie (and actually I don't mind too much) but really doesnt everyone to be free (by that I don't mean that everyone that has committed hideous crimes against humanity should be wandering around on the streets, I'm left-wing but I'm not that left-wing!), to know that we will eat today and tommorrow, don't we all deserve to have access to water that will refresh us rather than make us ill. Perhaps there will always be some hardship in life, certainly there will always be loss but I do feel that everyone and I do mean everyone deserves the chance of enough good things to lead a good life. Humanity should mean more than just being human - it should mean humankindness. xx