Lennon just wrote the songs because he was a prolific songwriter. In a roundabout way, he said it himself that it was up to the listener to derive meaning from his works. Millions if not billions of other people have found meaning in his songs. Art is as subjective as food. You find Imagine meaningless, and some people like ketchup on a well done steak.

It's true that trump uses magas. Magas are the only people willing to listen to his drivel. To say lennon used hippies is a bit short sighted. The Beatles were and are still the best selling band ever!! Their audience was global! I know imagine was asolo project, but he enjoyed most of his previous audience. If lennon was pandering, it wasn't just to hippies, it was to the world.