2015 Expressions on a Sustainable UMD: The Power to Change May 2015 | Page 21

David Stackpole Environmental Science and Technology Class of 2017 The Point What’s the point? What’s the point of fighting the inevitable? What’s the point of fighting those with all the resources to win and no intentions of abandoning them? What’s the point of fighting to change a system that perpetually abates its own progress? What’s the point of fighting to motivate a culture of apathy in which comfort is accompanied by willful ignorance? What’s the point of fighting defeatism, ignorance, and greed? What’s the point of fighting a losing battle? What’s the point? Why...? Because there is no defeat without acceptanceThe white flag is not raised until the last soldier has sheathed his blade and bows in obedience to the destiny he was determined to change and submits to the broken future he fought to save, Until the last ramparts are burned to the ground and the last remnants of hope lay scattered in the ashes of the voices that once screamed so loud. Until the last flame lifted in protest is snuffed out and the last rose is stripped from the concrete and the last pillar of strength comes tumbling down and the closing buzzer shrieks in finality like so many bulging women before it. Until there is no man, woman, or child willing to take up arms against those with their knives at their necks and their guns at their heads. Until the inevitable is accepted. But there is no defeat without acceptance, and I will not accept. I will raise my arms, I will bellow as the buzzer shrieks, I will stand in solidarity with that pillar of strength, I will defend that rose which grew from the concrete with my life And I will burn the world to the ground before that flame of protest is extinguished. I will lift those voices from the ashes and with them the hope they carried, I will hold those ramparts together with my bare hands And I will unsheathe my blade and battle as though I had the strength of an army inside me. And I will stare into the faces of those who would laugh into mine and dismiss me as naïve. Because I am. To believe that YOU can fight and win? You must be naive. But if everyone were naïve, no one would be. And that’s the point. !17!