Last week on Thursday night I got a call from my dad who had a special surprise for me. I was already planning to go home that weekend and see him, which was something I looked forward to immensely, but the proposition he made in that call really blew me off my feet. He had acquired two tickets to the closing show of Michael Moore’s “The Terms of My Surrender” on Broadway and asked me to go with him. Being largely interested in American politics and leftist activism, I happily complied.

After a 45-minute train ride and a quick walk from Grand Central Station my dad and I arrived at the Belasco Theatre half an hour before we planned to go in line for seating, so we decided to have a drink in the restaurant across from the theatre. While I was calmly sipping my Sprite and looking at the Playbills of Broadway shows pin-pricked on the wall of the restaurant, my dad requested that we look up a review of the show before it started. We stumbled upon a New York Times review by Jesse Green, who seemed rather pessimistic and cynical in his writing. Mr. Green described how “The Terms of My Surrender”... is a bit like being stuck at Thanksgiving dinner with a garrulous, self-regarding, time-sucking uncle.” We thus weren’t promised much good.

But now that I have seen the show I can happily say that I am writing to refute Mr. Green entirely. As the lights in the house went down a little after 2 PM, a figure with the silhouette of President Trump was approaching from behind many gigantic television screens showing together the largest American flag I have ever seen. Then a door in the screens opened and out came Michael Moore himself. This being his last show, I could tell he was exhausted both in voice and body, but his enthusiasm did not waver that day. The show itself felt like a mixture of stand-up comedy, a political rally, and an almost three-hour motivational speech on what the left can do to provide obstacles for the Trump administration. And rather than brag about himself like Mr. Green said he was, Mr. Moore reminisced with charisma upon his most significant anecdotes of American activism to make some very interesting points on the power of the individual.

Early on in the show, Mr. Moore explained that “you might not have much power, but you are never powerless.” He then went on to tell a story of his first involvement in fighting for justice at the age of 17. When he attended Boys State, a conference in which incoming high school seniors create their own US Congress, he did not come out of his room at all because of his lack of interest in politics. However, an advertisement to write a speech for a contest at the conference organized by the racist Elks Club inspired him to take action. He wrote a speech condemning the Elks Club for the contest and was courageous enough to recite it in front of the president of the Elks Club and the entire congress at Boys State. This speech gained the attention of the entire country, and soon the Elks Club lost more and more privileges granted to them by the federal government. Mr. Moore used this story to convey that even the smallest act of resistance can have immense power and make a big difference.

And so he also encouraged the audience to take even a little bit of action against the Trump administration. He included a list of ten things to do individually to support the Democrats in Congress, like downloading the 5calls app, which lets you know what is being debated on the floor of Congress every day and what number you need to call to voice your opinion about that. He also encouraged the members of the audience to go to www.indivisibleguide.com and type in their zip code to find all the latest local action they could take in their area. He also provided the names of organizations left-leaning citizens could join and/or support, such as ACLU, Black Lives Matter, the Democratic Socialists of America, and Planned Parenthood.

Besides using his stand-up style for talking about his personal experience, Moore also took the time to do some great games and stand-out segments on his show. These included a game in which above-average US students were proven to be dumber than below-average Canadian students, for instance. A crucial segment of the show, though, was his interview segment, in which he got a new figure of American politics or celebrity culture to be interviewed by him every show.

I, fortunately, got the opportunity to see him interview Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for his final show. Senator Gillibrand was very kind and attentive, which surprised me, as she had defiantly voted no to every one of President Trump’s cabinet appointments. But what I really took away from her interview was how important the 2018 elections will be. The 2018 elections will give Democrats their biggest chance yet to stop President Trump’s agenda, and only 24 extra seats in the House and 3 in the Senate are needed to make that happen. Therefore it is extremely important for left-leaning US citizens to go vote in 2018.

Mr. Moore closed his show by telling a story very near and dear to his heart about Flint, Michigan, the town he grew up in. He recounted the origin of the water crisis in Flint, which consisted of the new governor, Rick Snyder, switching the source of Flint water from a faraway glacial lake to the much closer but highly contaminated Flint River, which allowed Governor Snyder to cut taxes for the upper class. This, of course, led to the sickness and death caused by the water crisis that gained national attention, and thus I realized that low-income people in Flint had literally died for the benefit of the 1%.

Now, of course, the source for Flint is again the glacial lake that once served as the source, but the pipes in Flint have been permanently contaminated, causing the water crisis to still not be over. Currently, the water crisis is being overshadowed by many other national issues, but it cannot be left for what it is, as the lives of thousands still depend on federal aid that may never come, unless control in Congress flips in 2018.

Michael Moore’s show left me feeling empowered, important, and more than ever alert to the countless things that are still left to fix in American society. Mr. Moore, in a talkback after the show, told the audience that there is no such thing as being an activist, but that being involved in American politics is a central component of what it means to be an American. Every American must therefore promote what they believe in, be they a Democrat or a Republican, be they black, white, or anything in between, be they gay or straight or any other sexual orientation.

A true American should never cease to do this either, regardless of which party is in control of the country, according to Mr. Moore. There are no terms of surrender. I entered the Belasco Theatre with curiosity, and walked off with my dad into the cool New York air with a sense of duty to both my own country and to the United States.