[RWebb]

any one who does a public interest job does something good for others

the question is whether they get paid for it and is the pay enough to live on (e.g. cannot afford to volunteer since their pay is so low) and/or worth their effort

an example of the latter (based on a recent discussion with a surgeon friend) - you are highly paid for your surgeries, but...

1. you are on call & get pulled away from parties to stitch up some meth-head who crashed his car
2. you get sued - several times - b/c people expect miracles etc. & that extracts a psychological toll, so much so that by age 50 you just want to grow wine grapes and shove the surgeries

another friend is a social worker who treats children who have been sexually abused - that takes a toll psychologically & does not pay all that well, but is hardly volunteer

another example would be a govt. lawyer - by def'n it is in the public interest (or at least the part of the public that determines what cases they bring)
and they are fairly well paid, but the good ones could make more in private practice

Another issue is whether everyone agrees with the goals you seek:
- public interest law such as suing polluters is an obvious example there