Lennon
(edit: Dexeron's comment on this is excellent)
What John Lennon Failed to Imagine
"Lennon stands today as the most revered icon in the pantheon of the peace movement -- a figure of such sainted majesty that he has been practically beatified by secular humanists. This reputation balances precariously on the foundation of just one song -- the anthemic 'Imagine.'
'Imagine' dredged up some half-baked Romantic notions and presented a vision of a world free of conflict. Attached to an ethereal melody, it seems to float in a sea of mysticism, painting a picture of a utopia that most Communist leaders in the 1970s would have recognized.
[...]
Would Lennon have matured intellectually as he aged, ultimately recognizing that this formula for world peace -- written in a swishy mansion in the English countryside, far from the Communist despots and authoritarians who at that time imprisoned nearly half of humanity -- could not work? Would he have understood that there was something a little skewed about attempting to denude the world of religion, governments, sovereignty, and wealth?
Would he have finally understood that his adopted home, the United States, actually stood as the last best chance for humanity to preserve the liberty that had allowed him to pen such masterpieces such as 'Across the Universe' and 'A Day In the Life...'?
Probably not. Naïveté is one of the great privileges of the rich and famous. Insulated from the hard realities of life, our pop icons are safe and free to make ignorant guesses about the world and pose solutions that suggest more, not less, misery for its human population."
What John Lennon Failed to Imagine
"Lennon stands today as the most revered icon in the pantheon of the peace movement -- a figure of such sainted majesty that he has been practically beatified by secular humanists. This reputation balances precariously on the foundation of just one song -- the anthemic 'Imagine.'
'Imagine' dredged up some half-baked Romantic notions and presented a vision of a world free of conflict. Attached to an ethereal melody, it seems to float in a sea of mysticism, painting a picture of a utopia that most Communist leaders in the 1970s would have recognized.
[...]
Would Lennon have matured intellectually as he aged, ultimately recognizing that this formula for world peace -- written in a swishy mansion in the English countryside, far from the Communist despots and authoritarians who at that time imprisoned nearly half of humanity -- could not work? Would he have understood that there was something a little skewed about attempting to denude the world of religion, governments, sovereignty, and wealth?
Would he have finally understood that his adopted home, the United States, actually stood as the last best chance for humanity to preserve the liberty that had allowed him to pen such masterpieces such as 'Across the Universe' and 'A Day In the Life...'?
Probably not. Naïveté is one of the great privileges of the rich and famous. Insulated from the hard realities of life, our pop icons are safe and free to make ignorant guesses about the world and pose solutions that suggest more, not less, misery for its human population."