The topic of Self-Immolation really touched me when reading the stories of Thích Quảng Đức and Thomas Buckel. Their sacrifice showed me a level of dedication that I still struggle to fathom, and that led me to think: Could you do it too? Although I don’t feel so strongly about any one cause that I would sacrifice myself to bring change, it made me think: maybe that’s a problem. Not in the sense that I must sacrifice myself as well, but in the idea that we are all aware of our Earth’s many problems and know full well their impact and destruction, but it doesn’t light a fire in us in the same way it did in Đức or Buckel. This lack of initiative further propels these issues and allows them to exist. Even if we are against these problems, if our tongues do not make it heard, then they will always persist. Will it always take a grand event or sacrifice before progress is made? Will we always wait until the danger is right in front of us to start working? How long until we become numb to both and just omit the idea of change? In the example of Buckel, this may already be happening. Buckel’s sacrifice was not able to draw the same worldwide attention that Đức could, and to me, that is truly terrifying. As time passes, we will become numb to the loss of life and the impact of sacrifice. I think the torch of protest is something that is emphatically picked up by every new generation, but sometimes I worry that eventually no new hands will come to carry it.