Just Imagine

The Just Imagine messages focus on societal issues, and ask readers to consider possibilities for society as it relates to the message theme. The categories in the Just Imagine series include:

  • Societal Progress

    Anthony Comstock was born in 1844 in Connecticut. Through his experience serving with the Union Army in the Civil War, he became obsessed with what he considered to be the low state of morals among his fellow soldiers. Returning from the war, he worked at a number of...

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  • Opportunities Matter

    Valerie Thomas was born in Maryland in 1943. When she went to school, schools were being integrated. Without the landmark Brown vs Board of Education Supreme Court decision, it’s unlikely that Valerie would have had the opportunity to utilize fully the talent she had...

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  • Voluntary Taxation – An Old, but Still Relevant, Concept

    Facing a lack of revenue for needed projects, Italy, France, and Britain began to use lotteries in the 16th Century as a way to entice citizens to voluntarily fund these projects. The lure was something they might win. Lotteries gained popularity in the next two...

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  • Our National Parks: A Gift to Some of Us

    Our national park system has been described as a gift that we as Americans give to ourselves. The early history of our national parks however is one of gifts denied to African Americans. President Theodore Roosevelt felt that only white people would truly enjoy the...

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  • Gleaning: An Old Word that Remains Very Relevant

    Each year, we tend to recognize new words that come into our vocabulary. Often these words reflect trends in pop culture. They are hip, so to speak. What goes uncelebrated are words that have fallen out of use but should be very relevant today. One such word is...

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  • A Thousand Words

    Sebastião Salgado was born in 1944 in Brazil. He had a difficult childhood but eventually received a PhD in Economics from the University of Paris. With a degree, he began his professional career as an economist for the International Coffee Organization. It was this...

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  • Wounded for Life

    Charles Barger was born in Missouri in 1892. When he was 5 years old, his father was sentenced to a lifetime in prison. His mother gave him up for adoption. When Charles was 26 years old, he enlisted in the Army as the U.S. entered World War I. With training, he was...

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  • A Chinese Mother of 1500

    Margaret Chung was born in California in 1889. Her parents came to America from China when they were young. Margaret grew up in a devout Christian family and had hopes of going to China as a medical missionary. When her parents became ill, she helped raise her 10...

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  • Reversing the Imposter Syndrome

    She is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Indian Nation of Oklahoma. She has a double major in Spanish and Communications from the University of Arizona. Through an internship opportunity with IBM, she discovered she had a talent for invention. Tara Astigarraga is...

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  • The Duplicity of Original Intent

    The founding fathers were concerned that the government they were creating would have the power to take people’s property for public use without the owner’s permission. In the 5th Amendment, the so-called takings clause was added which stated that property could only...

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