I agree, EEE.  Easy for all of us to moan and lament in front of our screens and behind our beers.  But nothing stands even the smallest hope of changing without information PLUS activism.

I am here this weekend at a major university where my freshman son laments the lack of activism.  The powers that be have lulled us into either a group of blind followers or passive defeated. 

The only way to feel empopwered is to DO something; and, as you write,  meeting others with hope and energy is not a bad way to spend an evening.  When you go, take a friend and/or a teenager too!