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Ellen Hawks Rhetoric/Composition 2 May 2011 Address to the Intergalactic Court Species of the Intergalactic Court, today is a day of grave importance for all galaxies. Today, you decide the fate of not only one individual, or even just a few. Today, you decide the fate of an entire race. Today, you decide the direction of the future. The impact of the decision

made here will extend to each and every galaxy. I stand before you now as your humble servant. I have come here to address the charges against the human race. Humanity faces extermination on the grounds of gross stupidity. The court believes that the human race exhibits calamitous behavior. Because humans demonstrate a tendency to act in a manner that is destructive to the individual and society, they are deemed unworthy to continue in existence. While I cannot deny that history is littered with the deplorable devastations caused by this race, you cannot deny that history is also saturated with the admirable accomplishments achieved by my race. I plead with you to consider my words with an open mind. Upon my race stand wars and corruption, the evidence that we have little regard for human life. From the drug abuser to the bloodthirsty tyrant, tragic evils cover the pages of our history. Both individual and global destruction comes at the hands of human nature. On a minor scale, the abuse of drugs, alcohol, and money, has brought on addiction, destitution, and death. Perhaps, if our destructive tendencies were limited to only to this level, then our future would not be in jeopardy. The court would have not feel the need to take such a drastic measure as human genocide. We cannot know for sure. Still, the sad reality remains that they were not. Globally, wars and corruption have resulted in genocide, disease, and starvation. World War Two with

! its massacre of millions of innocent people, men women and children - serves as a prime example of the devastation that humanity has caused itself. Thus, you derive your analysis of human as stupid from this behavior.

Indeed, the human race failed many times in the past. I will not deny that. I will not offer excuses. I will not forgo the blame. I am here simply to ensure that my race is judged not only by the faults of our past, but also by the triumphs of our present. Let us examine the story of Renee. A nineteen-year-old girl, lost and alone, finds herself trapped in addictions to cocaine, pot, pills, and alcohol. Desperate and depressed, she uses a razor to carve the words Fuck up into her feeble forearm. Clearly, she proves our conviction accurate. Is she not simply another example of the self-destructive nature of humans? Her addiction has led to a sickening, shameful spiral of desolation. However, the story continues. Renee seeks help from a drug center, desiring to end this cycle of devastation. The center informs her that she must wait a week before they can allow her to join. At the thought of another week alone, a nauseating chill runs down her spine. Icy, cold fear grips her, and panic begins to wash over her inch by inch, it consumes her every fiber. It feels as if she has fallen head first into a frozen lake of despair. Her body becomes completely cold with the knowledge that she cannot survive another week on her own. All her strength is gone. All her faith is lost. All her hope is lost. Numb, is all she feels. Then an ordinary group of people, with no qualification or responsibility, decides to intervene. They gather together and spend five days with her as she fights through hell to regain control of her life. This experience saves Renees life. This experience changes Renee forever. This experience continues to change lives. This experience starts a movement. Rightly named To Write Love On Her Arms, this movement seeks to help those lost along a treacherous road, stumbling feebly through pitfalls and slippery slopes, uncover the way back to the radiant path of new life.

3 In each generation, people find themselves standing at the fork in the road. Multitudes of

these people recognize the pull within them towards this destructive path of gross stupidity and deliberately turn from it to the way of wisdom, living by higher values than personal greed, selfishness, and pleasure. As a result, they have created magnificent acts of beauty. Take the organization known as STAND, for instance. STAND is the student led division of the Genocide Intervention Network, which originated in response to the genocide in Darfur. When the destruction in Darfur began, the United States government ignored genocide abroad. No political consequences came from inaction. Consequently, those nations in total devastation did not receive the help they so desperately needed. However, students around the United States rejected this standard and demanded more from themselves and their government. Forming the organization STAND, they forced government officials to act and support relief efforts by making ignorance and inaction politically unacceptable. Today, STAND remains at work to help protect people everywhere. Many other organizations like STAND that seek to create a better international community exist around the world. The people in these groups choose every day to reject the selfishness and greed that leads to destruction. If the human race is to be judged for its actions, then must not these noble acts also be taken into account? I do not disagree that some humans act in accordance with the portrayal of stupidity painted by members of the Intergalactic Court. Many humans act selfishly and completely ignore the damaging effects of their choices on others. However, many other people refuse to let such greed control them. Instead, they give back to society. They serve the needs of others rather than their own. I say that these individuals are innocent. Would it be just to force all to pay for the failure of a few? How can that be justice? It is in vain to substantiate extermination. Some may cry, Justice, Justice but that will not be justice.

! Every generation boasts stories of their heroes, people who sacrificed their very lives for others, a greater good. From soldiers who lay down their lives to protect others, to doctors and

nurses who work endlessly to save lives, to teachers who dedicate themselves to prepare the next generation, to mothers who love their children unconditionally, humanity is full of those who stand in stark contrast to this gross stupidity. Every day human destruction and cruelty knock us down hard, but every day human virtue and selflessness raise us up again. These qualities demonstrate the ability of humans to improve themselves and their community. Humanity possesses people that not only live with moral character that improves society, but also people that actively work for the definite change that ends destruction. These people are blameless. Their innocence is undeniable. We are not the only race that has made mistakes, but humanity, in some ways, has fallen into a level of darkness farther than we should have. We stand at the precipice of the abyss, on the brink of total devastation. I, and countless others, regret our failures with all my heart. However, I do not, for a second, accept a death penalty. I believe in this race, my race. I believe in the compassion we offer to each other, the virtue we follow with steadfast diligence, the change we pursue for the future, and in the unity we show in our efforts. We seek only forgiveness, and do not overlook this opportunity for change, simply because we already want change. While you will not deny our desire, I know you still question our power. You may think that humans are weak, unable to overcome our destructive ways. Members of the court, we are not weak. There are multitudes upon multitudes of people, united under the sacred cause of change and willing to sacrifice all for it. Those humans who uphold virtue will not accept defeat! Our history demonstrates that when we fight for change, we emerge victorious. On July 4, 1776,

! the Declaration of Independence birthed a new nation free from the British oppression of the past. On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation freed black Americans from the cruelty of slavery. On October 24 1945, the United Nations established protection from war for the future. These dates may be only a few examples of our past success, but they illustrate the pattern of our success, a pattern we will perpetuate in the future. Members of the Court, I have spoken of the good that outweighs the bad. I have demonstrated the innocence of many humans. I have declared our desire for continued change. I have proved our power for further transformation. We have the power and the desire, now give us the opportunity we have earned. If you wish to do justice if you mean to preserve the integrity of this court that at its core seeks to shape a superior, universal community if you mean to not ignorantly abandon the moral and ethical law to which you have dedicated your lives, and which you have pledged yourselves never to abandon until your last breath the verdict must be innocent. I repeat it; we must be innocent!

The question before the court is one of awful moment to this universe. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than the foundation for future framework of decision-making. If an entire race is murdered for the few failures from a few people, injustice will be deemed acceptable. Once established this standard will extend to every future decision made here and all over the universe. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. This decision rests in your hands, daunting for its possible impact on humanity and crucial for the future of all. I pray for not only my sake, or the sake of my race, but for the sake of all future generations that you let justice reign.