It is not a matter of despair or helplessness; it is a matter of having been clear from the start that the complexity of the Zcash protocol cannot be allowed to increase without bound, and therefore that pools must eventually be removed.
For me, this is as much a matter of strongly held principle as it is for the objectors: failing to manage the complexity of the protocol increases the risk of harm to current holders (who collectively hold far more ZEC than is in the Sprout pool), and it has huge opportunity costs.