In a time when there is so much stuff going on, you might ask what to do? I discussed this with David Bronson a few times (over a few issues) and his answer was always along the lines of, "Let's sit and learn Gemara". Or one time I was asking such questions, and he brought up the mishna כל המקבל עליו עול תורה מעבירים ממנו עול מלכות ועול דרך ארץ. ["Whosoever accepts on himself the yoke of Torah, the yoke of government and the yoke of the way of the earth (work) is removed from him." [That does not mean to be begging for money.]
When I asked a question, "What can a father do for his children to guide them?" he brought this idea of Rav Nahman that when a father repents on his sins, thoughts of repentance enter into his children.
Another time I brought up this subject and he brought an event mentioned in the Gemara. There was an extreme tax brought on the city where Judah HaNasi lived. He said, "All problems come from people ignorant of Torah." [You can ask on this from the Gemara in Shabat that says all problems come into the world because of "judges of Israel"] There is no contradiction as we see in Hulin. perek 7 that all problems in the world come from תלמידי חכמים שדיים יהודאיים Torah scholars that are demons.[Le.M I:12 and I:28]
So how do you tell? By the criteria of "Lishma" [those that learn Torah for its own sake]. Some people accept money to learn Torah, but their intension is to learn. They only accept money because that is the only way they can spend their days learning Torah. These are the true good Torah scholars. They are the Litvaks. [Those that walk in the path of the Gra.]--(However I admit that even in the Litvak world there can be phonies. But the general type--the group characteristic is that of Torah for its own sake.]
