The government isn't helping, so here we go

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/europe/crisis-hit-spaniards-revive-community-spirit

"The volunteers don't care about motives. Their concern is getting food to the hungry. It's an unexpected result of the economic crisis in a part of the world regarded as the land of plenty.
For many it still is, of course, but more and more people here are falling through the welfare net. Cash strapped governments, like the Spanish, are cutting back drastically."

http://www.thenation.com/blog/168895/man-sets-himself-fire-during-tel-aviv-march-triggering-more-protests#

"On Saturday evening, an estimated 10,000 people took to the streets of Tel Aviv to mark the first anniversary of J14, a movement centred around social justice and against inequality and the high cost of housing in Israel.
The march ended on Kaplan Street where a man in his 50s first distributed copies of a typed letter before pouring gasoline over his body and lighting himself on fire."

More and more people are getting disgusted with the government and taking things into their own hands.  This is unfortunate because government can be much more efficient in many things than volunteerism or self-sacrifice.  There is always a tension between paying taxes to get a service versus the service wasting tax dollars.  It takes constant observation and adjustment to make sure government runs correctly. But this is the price we must pay to have an efficient society.

But until efficient government can be re-established, it's up to us.