I received an inspiring email today from Paul Martin, director of the Henry George International Education Center (USA/Nicaragua)

. He prefaced it with this:

Dear fellow georgists,

What if John Lennon had read Progress and Poverty before he wrote the song "Imagine"?

Might the lyrics not have come out something similar to what you can see in the attached document?

"Imagine"
Lennon’s original version

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say 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

Georgist version

Imagine there’s no taxes

At least not on your work
No confiscation of labor
Affordable to be a clerk
Imagine all the people
Keeping what they earn...

Imagine no land hoarding
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no resource wars too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But my dream is nature’s truth
I hope someday you read Progress and Poverty
And then your dreams can be real, too

Imagine taxed land values
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A true sharing of the land
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
So the world can live as one