Ashley Reuben

9/3/14
Summary on Lennon and Putnam
In John Lennons song Imagine, written in 1971, he introduces his hope for what he
would like the world to be. Throughout this whole song, he is explaining how much better the
world would be if everyone saw each other as equals. One of the main ideas that Lennon stresses
in his song is to imagine what the world would be like if everyone only thought of the present
and not the future. Imagine theres no heaven . . . No hell below us Above us only sky the text
states (1). This shows that if people didnt think that there was a heaven or hell, then everyone
would end up going to the same place. If everyone thought about the present instead of always
worrying about the future, we would view each other as all the same.
Lennon not only talks about heaven and hell, but he also makes a point about how countries and religion have an effect on the way we view one another. Imagine theres no
countries . . . Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too the text explains (1). Here, he tries to
propose that if there were no countries, there wouldnt be anything to fight about. All the war and
religion has separated the world from coming together as a whole. For example, in most religions
you are supposed to get married to someone who is the same religion as you. This will set limits
on who we are allowed to love which will only push people away from each other.
In this song Lennon also shows how our possessions make people look at each other differently. Imagine no possessions . . . No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man he
sings (1). The more money we have, the more materialistic we become. Sometimes we forget
that some people have nothing. We tend to look up to the people who have fancy cars, huge

houses, and expensive clothes. This causes us to look down upon people who dont have those
possessions. When we look at people that way, we are teaching ourselves that people who have
less are worth less. Lennon is trying to show that if we look past all of our materialistic things,
we will notice that we are all the same.
Throughout Lennons entire song he is making various points, but the one point that he
keeps repeating is how he has a vision for all of us to be one. And the world will be as one . . . .
And the world will live as one he concludes (1). This shows the whole purpose of this song. He
is trying to compare the way the world is, and the way the world should be. Imagining that there
is no heaven, no countries, and no possessions, will let us all live together in peace.
In Putnams article E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first
Century The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture he talks all about diversity. He mentions that ethnic diversity and immigration will soon grow in almost all societies today. Then he goes on to
talk about how it might benefit a society, and how it will hurt the society. One of the most important challenges facing modern societies, and at the same time of of our most significant opportunities, is the increase in ethnic and social heterogeneity in virtually all advanced countries
Putnam writes (1). This shows that he believes ethnic diversity can be a very good thing for our
society but it also might not be the best. Throughout the article he supports his claims.
Putnam explains that ethnic diversity will spread in almost every society. Ethnic diversity will increase substantially in virtually all modern societies over the next several decades, in
part because of immigration he claims (1). This provides evidence to how our society will grow
full of ethnic diversity. He also introduces the idea that eventually we will want to be more diverse. Putnam goes on to say that immigration and ethnic diversity have many positive effects.

However, he also states that it might be hard to live in such a diverse community. In the
short to medium run, however, immigration and ethnic diversity challenge social solidarity and
inhibit social capital he argues (1). This shows how having diversity can be difficult. In this article Putnam writes how being more exposed to diversity will make us trust each other.
This is what is known as contact theory. The more interactions we have with people who have
a different background than us, the more we will learn to trust them. For example, if children of
different skin colors all went to the same school, relationships between them would all get better.
This was also one of the examples that was used in the Brown v. Board of Education case. Opposite to contact theory there is also conflict theory. Conflict theory states that it will form
groups that trust each other on the inside of the group, but dont trust anyone that is on the outside of the group. Conflict theory causes lower trust and lower interaction between people. For
different places, reactions to diversity will be different. The same goes for economic diversity.
The last thing that Putnam talks about in his article is how immigrants that are successful
will actually help improve our society. In the medium to long run, on the other hand, successful
immigrant societies create new forms of social solidarity and dampen the negative effects of diversity by constructing new, more encompassing identities he explains (2). This shows that successful immigrants will bring new things into our society that will help it. Immigration and diversity both seem to increase creativity in society. Not only that, but wherever there is more immigration, there economy seems to grow faster as well.