Voyeurism doesn't work in society.

The things love can make people and groups do is amazing. This isn't just love for individuals, but love for anyone and everyone. Sometimes the drive to do great things for others is there all along, but it needs a push. Sometimes this love is masked in selfishness and promotion, but in truth, a kind deed is done in kindness.

A table for Alex's Lemonade Stand at Ubercon isn't there by accident, nor is it placed there as a gimmick. It's a genuine attempt to give back to an organization that helps a cause that needs helping. Childhood cancer is terrible, and even if it's a dollar a glass (or at least that's what I put in, it was supposedly less), it's not really about the lemonade. No one likes lemonade, let alone potentially expensive lemonade. It's the cause that matters, and that's what prevails.

A Boy Scout troop that stands outside of Pathmark for a day collecting boxes and cans is not doing it to promote scouting, even if that's an occasional side effect. It's an attempt to do right by the hungry in the community. Sometimes the younger scouts are annoying and fail in asking politely, but even the 11 year old that practically begs for you to give that can of beans is still doing something for the community.

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) goes out of its way to provide support to comic authors and artists when their rights as artists come under fire. They don't need to gather support for the artists, and it doesn't matter that most of them are in the industry themselves. It doesn't change the fact that they're defending the first amendment rights on behalf of all people, even if the opportunity only presents itself in a graphic literature context.

People need to do more, and we can all start in small ways. Volunteer for community outreach things, read a story to some kids in school. Donate to the Salvation Army when. Do something with PETA if you're into that sort of thing. Take a stance of defiance against injustice. Pick a cause and stick with it until it's either strong enough to stand on its own or until you can't anymore. The only way that anything will ever change is if enough people try to change it. Lobby for a cause you believe in. Don't be afraid to peacefully protest if you hate something.

If the population fought for positive change, then the world wouldn't be as scary a place anymore.

Further references:

Dear Zachary
CBLDF
Rock For Reading
Martin Luther King Jr.'s final speech
Alex's Lemonade Stand