Among Esperanto-speakers there are two basic perspectives: One that looks inward, toward the other Esperanto speakers, and one that looks outward to the rest of the world. The two perspectives suggest different courses of action for the Esperanto movement.
Looking inward, there are diverse communities of Esperanto speakers involved in almost anything imaginable. Esperanto-speaking scientists and spiritualists. Esperanto-speaking runners and railroaders. Esperanto-hikers and hitch-hikers. It takes only a little effort to tie into these communities. Once you do, you find relatively small, but very involved communities of people interested in getting to know others and generally sensitive to and aware of cultural issues. Once you're involved, you can quickly begin to contribute to the community: write letters for a newsletter, create postings for a website, answer correspondence. These actions give life to the community and increase its value for everyone. Without this investment, organizations wither and die. There is a wealth of activity that could be done to support each of these communities and increase their value.
Looking outward, the world at large is not particularly friendly toward Esperanto. Those who have heard of Esperanto often have a lot of misconceptions, but, to be honest, most people just don't know from Esperanto. Esperanto-speakers can help, but Esperantists are often their own worst enemies. I'm making a distinction here between people who speak Esperanto (Esperanto speakers) and Esperantists: people who believe in the so-called "Traditional Esperanto Ideology". Esperantists say that there is a "world language problem" and the Esperanto is the solution. Most people I know, don't accept that there is a "world language problem" that relates in any way to their lives. Most people I know don't feel any profound need to speak with people from other countries.
A lot of people might be interested in Esperanto as a language that they could learn to speak. There are a lot of people who recognize that speaking a second language would be cool and interesting. But the Traditional Esperanto Ideology turns a lot of people off. It smacks of fanaticism, of religious sektarianism. A lot of what Esperantists say reinforces this perception. Railing against English doesn't help. The symbolism (of green stars) and hero worship (of Zamenhof and others) doesn't help either. Telling people it is their duty to learn Esperanto or to recruit more Esperantists are particularly unhelpful.
For most of us, Esperanto is a hobby. Some of us may have strong feelings about Esperanto as a "second language for everyone that will solve the world language problem", but for many of us, it is enough to know that Esperanto works: You can learn Esperanto and have access to an interesting, global community.
To the extent that there is a world language problem, Esperantists need to confront it in specific cases where they can make a concrete case that Esperanto can solve the problem. It is not persuasive to suggest that "if everyone learns Esperanto the language problem will be solved". That's not going to happen. But there are specific instances where Esperanto might be able to play a constructive role in solving specific problems. I have proposed using Esperanto for a specific educational program related to teaching students how to approach global problems. This is a place where I think Esperanto can play a concrete role in solving a language problem. In proposing it, I have presented specifically how and why people will learn Esperanto. There are a lot of places where Esperanto might make sense, but when presented as a "one size fits all" solution, it ceases being a concrete step toward solving a problem and simply becomes a utopian dream. Dreams are nice, but they're not a persuasive rationale to produce action.
But I think many people understate Esperanto's attraction as a hobby. Learning Esperanto isn't any more stupid than watching sports on TV. It's no more stupid than moving little game pieces around on a board. Some might argue that its less stupid, but that's not even necessary. As a hobby, Esperanto can be fun, interesting, and rewarding.