“Imagine all the people, living life in peace.”

Perhaps these lyrics sparked a familiar melody for whoever’s reading.

This evergreen seventies tune, “Imagine”, penned by John Lennon, has become an anti-war anthem for justice, equality and most importantly empathy, a word which seems to be deafened and bludgeoned in this “age of outrage” we find ourselves navigating.

He was shot four times in the back by a “fan” after he autographed his album and died a few metres from his hotel in Manhattan on December 8, 1980.

A requiem for humanity

The song “Imagine”, released during the Vietnam war, which killed over three million young men, children, mothers and fathers, is accompanied by a soft piano and gentle melody and sounds like a prayer or plea for understanding in a time of senseless bloodshed.

During the war, despite the news reports commenting on the latest batch of deaths and destruction, many young men were drafted and sent in droves like bullets in an assembly line.

Tragically the song has become an idyllic lament for a society where we can all respect and care for each other regardless of skin colour, culture or creed.

Civil rights activists Martin Luther King Jnr who preached peace and non-violence in his quest to fight race segregation and inequality was assassinated along with Malcolm X.

As if the call for basic dignity and equal rights is so outrageous it could lead to death.

Ironically the author of Utopia, Thomas More, also lost his head for his visions for a future society.
He was beheaded in 1535 for treason, after he refused to accept King Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church of England.

Consequence of social consciousness

The novel criticised greed, power and supported women’s rights and religious freedom, during a conservative time in the 16th-century under the king’s reign.

Even musical legend Bob Marley whose protest songs supported peace, freedom and “One Love”, was shot but survived a politically motivated assassination attempt ahead of the 1976 general election in Jamaica.

This act however only fueled his desire to continue singing about the struggle to love in an unsympathetic world.

Today it seems apathy and cynicism have become a popular camouflage to endure the widespread hate, violence, intolerance and propaganda infiltrating our psyches wherever we go.

Whether doom-scrolling on our cellphones, listening to the news on our car-radios or even stopping for a quick catch-up at work, we’re flooded with the latest tragic news.

Once again we’ll hear about the latest air missile strike in the Middle East, the price of petrol and goods skyrocketing again, the unrestricted plagiarism of AI models regurgitating artworks and voices, all for the sake of profit.

Curse of the algorithm

These days the integrity of the newsroom has also been more important in the wake of various influencers reporting on news and publishing their pieces, often with their own agendas, without much consideration for verifying information in the hopes of increasing followers and monetising their content.

Lately the popularity of “rage-baiting” is also sad to witness too, you’ve probably seen many videos of people manipulating each other until an argument or violent fight occurs.

Research shows algorithms financially reward anger which creates cognitive urgency, compelling users to comment, correct, or share in real-time, which all boosts engagement and virality.

I’ve read that the primitive parts of our brain, the amygdala, scan the environment for threats and process negative information significantly faster than positive experiences.

Pride and prejudice seems to cloud our society even more so these days, while these algorithms, these heartless systems capitalise and advertise on any content that can shackle the viewers in an endless loop that keeps their profits high and our attention spans low.

And so “Imagine”, a song of hope, remains more relevant than ever in 2026.

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