I've always felt that pre-existing systems were too rigid, too structured and steeped in tradition. ToastMasters, for example, spends a great deal of time on pomp and circumstance, when they could be doing things far more constructive with that time.
While I can't speak for your generation, Steve, I can speak for my own. I'm 23, and the people I've met in the last few years that want to help others and are service oriented are just as you described: struggling to find a place in the corporate world while still trying to find a way to help, or believing that being in the corporate world is the best way to do that.
Right now, even if they realize that going the standard corporate route MAY not be the best for them, they don't see a way out. They often see starting their own business and think they could do more from inside the system.
The only problem is, people in my generation are so young and have had so little time (comparatively) to start down their path, it's hard to determine if they're high on the college attitude of "save the world" or really are committed to doing something.
Still, most of them are VERY eager to meet someone of a like mind, even in widely disparate fields, such as a long conversation I (a visual artist) had with with a law student about our purpose and the way we can help people and world.
People my age have a very small network of people that they can connect with on this level, so they are more than happy to form new connections with their brother and sisters in purpose. Most of my friends are in their 30s-40s. Haha.
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