Yes, obviously the world would not go on if we all had no possessions.

The concept in "Imagine" is not only some sort of nirvana though.

When I was younger, I remember I watched a movie about St. Francis, and I have even just found a clip where he gives up all his possessions. I am not saying everybody should do that. I am just saying people find happiness in different ways, and the rich are not always as lucky as they think they are, nor are those who want to give up everything crazy. Happiness is subjective.

That said, I am spiritual but not religious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev2d92_W47Y

I agree with you. Mother Theresa was another who had very little in the way of possessions. It is possible for some people to devote their lives to helping others and I have great respect for those people.

The difference is she practised what she preached.

I don't believe those who want to live simply are crazy, I don't believe wealth necessarily brings happiness (or unhappiness for that matter. All money can buy is goods and services, it can't buy emotions as such).

Being poor doesn't necessarily bring happiness either, it can cause stress though.

I'm not against people having ideals, it is just the disconnect between the words of Imagine and the lifestyle of the writer always jars with me.

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@springyzone wrote:

I don't believe those who want to live simply are crazy, I don't believe wealth necessarily brings happiness (or unhappiness for that matter. All money can buy is goods and services, it can't buy emotions as such).

Being poor doesn't necessarily bring happiness either, it can cause stress though.

 

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In order to be poor and happy you need to be spiritual too, otherwise it can definitely cause stress.

And the rich? Well, Jesus did say "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God".

Of course money is not a sin in itself, but many rich people become very greedy. As a matter of fact, the more they have, the more they want to have. But there are also good rich people.

The Vatican is incredibly rich, they say.

I think the whole verse is what is meant by ' possessions '.

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

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@arctoph_49 wrote:

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Of course money is not a sin in itself, but many rich people become very greedy. As a matter of fact, the more they have, the more they want to have. But there are also good rich people.

The Vatican is incredibly rich, they say.

 

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This reminds me a bit of pensioners here, where you might get a pensioner who has been living in a house for over 60 years, where it was just a moderate middle class suburb when they moved in but has risen in value in the years since and they are now millionaires as far as assets go, but not necessarily in ready cash.

The vatican, I think, has some ready cash but the main value is in the buildings themselves and they can't exactly pull them apart and sell them off to the highest bidder.

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@springyzone wrote:

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The vatican, I think, has some ready cash but the main value is in the buildings themselves and they can't exactly pull them apart and sell them off to the highest bidder.

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Well, I think it is better if we don't discuss the Vatican's wealth here, but you can google the issue as well as estimates if you wish.

Have you read "Siddharta" by Hermann Hesse, arcto? It is a wonderful novel about the quest for enlightenment.

Yes, but a long time ago. I loved it.

I have read it twice, both in English and in German.

@springyzone wrote:

The vatican, I think, has some ready cash but the main value is in the buildings themselves and they can't exactly pull them apart and sell them off to the highest bidder.

An understatement.

If I could choose, the Vatican would not be in my world.

And I was raised Catholic.