I believe it was Ghandi who once said we must be the change we want to see in the world.

Each of us can choose to make our lives and our communities better places to live. There are many ways to this of course. Through charitable labor and giving as mentioned above. The act of starting a business and hiring folks is another. Teaching entrepreneurial skills to the disadvantaged yet one more. The company I work sets aside one day for employees can take off to volunteer to help out the community by being involved with projects like food banks, charity auctions etc... I think personally this is a good thing.

There are always things we cannot control around us and all we can do is adapt to changing circumstances the best we can. In the end we only control our perceptions and conclusions.