Keep Quiet and Change

There is one principle when it comes to change and the Chareidi community - don't mention it.
Like any other ethnic or social group the Chareidim change over time.  The difference between them and other groups is that they don't admit it.  While Chareidim today are different in terms of dress, behaviour and politics from their forebears 100 years ago the official line from the PR hacks is that, in fact, the way they are today is the way they've always been.  They do not change, after all.
As both Rationalist Judaism and Jewish Worker have been noting recently, things aren't looking so good for Israeli Chareidim.  Despite all the billions of shekels they've received over the years from the Israeli government many of their number live in dire poverty or close to it.  Socially the strain is becoming unbearable.  The fairy tale society their "Gedolim" expect them to maintain has become increasingly unrealistic and the stress is showing.
The solution, accepting that Chareidism is a strong movement that has nothing to fear from the outside world and thereby starting to integrate into Israeli society, is not a serious option, as least not for the leadership.  Despite their surging numbers and growing social structure, Chareidism still needs a persecution complex and sense of victimization by the surrounding communities to define itself.  Chareidim aren't real Chareidim unless they believe that everyone else spends all day every day trying to figure out how to destroy them.
Certainly the recent efforts of the Israeli government to force change had the opposite effect.  It only served to entrench the dysfunctional defiance that characterizes the Chareidi leadership.  In other words, the goverment's proactive attempts have pushed the situation backwards.
We have to remember that forcing change will cause a major disaster.  Despite all the disparagement of their learning there is no doubt that it is a large part of what sustains us as a people.  It is not the only things, as they might claim, but a large part of our collective merit nonetheless.  Forcing an end to so much learning would not be without consequence spiritually to us but even more so, imagine how many people will be lost to Torah Judaism through forceful interventions.
What should be the proper approach?  As I have suggested before there should be two main ways to deal with this situation.  The first is through rejecting the role the Chareidi leadership would cast us in.  We are not Nazis, Cazrists, haters of Torah, etc. and we should have no shame in saying that loudly to them.  The "Gedolim" need their people to think that everyone on the outside sits around day and night thinking of nothing else but destroying the Chareidi community and, by extension, the Torah.  We must forcefully contest this assertion every time.
But beyond that we must remember that there is a personal role to be played in this area as well.  Just as I have written before about the kiruv power of proper public ethical behaviour when it comes to attracting the secular community to a Torah lifestyle, it is equally important to demonstrate that a decent, balanced yet thoroughly observant Torah lifestyle is possible and not a rejection of proper avodas HaShem.  This is done at "the street level", not through political interactions.  Perhaps through these two methods small changes can begin to be made that will lead to positive results.