JOHN LENNON WAS RIGHT

The Beatles claimed that 'all you need is love'. I often wonder if George, Ringo, Paul and John were together today, would they pen the same lyrics? It often seems to me, in our post-modern world, 'love' has sold it's soul. Now, 15 year old girls sign off their conversations with the charming phrase 'love ya, bitch', and Hallmark makes easy what should be stomach-flipping - telling someone you love them, be it the first time, or the fiftieth. 

Of course, there is unconditional love which manifests itself in the deep, unwavering roots of a family, but I want to talk about 'love' in it's most stirring form - romantic love.

It seems to me that today's version of 'love' causes little but anxiety, Facebook stalking and a general sense of trepidation that one day, it will all just come to an end. The post-modern philosopher, Baudrillard, had a theory as to why it seems love always ends up ugly. His theory relayed a sense that we are all being manipulated by seduction, constantly lured away from stagnant reality towards an enigmatic and inexplicable truth. Thus, consciously or not, we are in a constant state of search and attracted to the 'game' that the first stages of love are built upon. Today, contentment is fleeting as there is a never-ending supply of the 'new', the constant suggestion of an upgrade to a better version - the newer software, the shinier model, the latest app. 

I came to understand Baudrillards theory through reading about it. But I never really accepted it until I experienced exactly what the old chap was going on about. The modern love 'game' endorses many responsibilities and often it is the desire for freedom and lack of liability that can lead people from the person with whom they are romantically tied to. It is always the mystery and fleeting glances that appeal. 

So, what happens? How can love ever last? Baudrillard purports that before one can love another human being wholly, there must first be a holistic love of the world, a love for the way one cannot control another and a love of life's unforeseeable future. Love has no formula, no structure. It is as unpredictable as hatred or fear, yet supersedes both these emotions with it's sheer force. I'm pretty sure that when John Lennon sang the words 'all you need is love', he wasn't talking about the procedural love that modern society shoves in our blindly accepting faces. He was talking about free love, love that isn't controlling or manipulatory. It's true that all we need is love... as long as that love is unique, adaptable and free.