If the end is oh-so-very-near why the exhortation rammed home during the convention to "Don't Give Up."
If humankind is poised right on the knife edge of the end, the sense of urgency in the organization would be breathtakingly palpable. Urgency? What urgency? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....
The GB knows that, every passing day, more and more JWs are doing less and less and less to the point where field service activity is a misnomer.
You only ever urge people to not give up if you know they're in for the long haul. And, baby, this long haul is extraordinarily long - from at least the mid-1870s to the present.
The irony will be lost on JWs - but I doubt the exhortation will stem the exodus.