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Many years ago when I was in college I took a Philosophy course where we discussed and debated the meaning of the word altruism. As defined: Unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness.

The Professor believed that no such thing existed as the fact is that true altruism comes without strings, emotions or any other extraneous baggage tied to the gift. There is no such thing as "selflessness". I would have to agree... especially now with the fact that with the media age the need to be recognized at some level for your generosity negates the act of selflessness.

But on that count and the idea that as Americans we owe the victims of Katrina an apology is in fact inherently wrong. We as Americans owe them well really nothing because ostensibly we pay our taxes and assume the government will utilize those monies as they see fit...I am not sure how we as Americans owe Americans anything more than compliance with the laws in America..nationality should not dictate our loyalites, at least exclusively. We certainly donate to charities outside of America and should we discontinue this practice because we now "realize" that people in America have it bad?

But as Humans we owe them everything. Just by the simple fact that by looking at the word Humanitarian we are all humans and at some level we are all devoted to the promotion of human welfare. Isn't that our responsibility as humans? And by the fact that we share this we each other we can at any level or means provide that support - be in in prayer should we believe, in the dollar or in the goods or services we donate. We all can at some place do something for the good of others and yes it will make us feel better and that is well okay - we should not however be motivated solely by that need to feel better or superior or alievate guilt.

With Oprah and her Scientology posse I do raise the question that while the act is appreciated their is in fact always a secondary measure behind her generosity... I mean just the fact that often her acts of kindness are the subjects and sole contents of her show - a show which earns her millions of dollars...so it cannot be always from the good of her heart as very little of her philanthropy is done off camera.

As for the sensationlism that seems to accompany these disasters - today on 9/11 I recall the horror of those planes and the faces of those who held pictures, who had survived running away, who managed to get out and attempt to tell their story, and of the shock and awe that dominated our society still today. Those photos and those hundreds of eulogies that I read in the NY Times still remind me of people I would never know or would never care about but still shared with me that common factor that we are all "human".

As Katrina comes to its boiling point we will have those stories and those survivor horrors which to live with - some will be geniune some will not. There will be those who use this as an opportunity to exploit.. they did with 9/11 (only last week they audited the loans made to businesses for relief and found several made to Quiznos shops in Utah... really how were they affected by 9/11?) and people who will exaggerate the facts as a means of validating thier survival or excusing their behavior.. not helping others, looting, even standing by while these rapes and assaults occurred. Certainly if they did witness this they will have to live with their conscience for the rest of their lives and their shame they did nothing.

And the media will go away and back to their stories on white women killed by white guys or talking heads talking about nothing. And while I will take any opportunity to bash Oprah over the head with an Hermes Birkin bag I cannot solely blame Oprah for inventing the medium of exploiting the emotions of a story although she has perfected it. She is no less guilty of not asking probing questions, of follow up for details or even getting valid second opinions - they all do it. Barbara Walters anyone???

I saw Soledad O'Brien interview a man who claimed to be rescued from his apartment and yet apparently no one else in the apt was rescued other than his grandma.. but with him he had perfectly intact photos of his entire family and friends - it was like an MCI commercial and he showed the lot, identifying them and some were from Virginia - so were they there too? ... she never asked if they were the ones in the apt, how he managed to get the pics or why he was rescued and the others not...

I doubt we will ever know to what extent what horrors ocurred in that Convention Center or the Superdome - there can be no one "story" which captures all what each of those people saw, experienced or felt. The New Orleans Police have confirmed violence had occurred and that in fact the second in command was nearly kidnapped in the convention center... so it had to be pretty fucking scary.

When I saw the Economist cover this week - The Shaming of America - I wasn't sure what I was ashamed of... the lack of the response, the ill planning and handling or the fact that people acted crazy and did crazy things.. but then again this was well crazy. The stories of this hurricane will be like 9/11, we will have to take our time have some distance and more than likely have numerous sources on which to base our thoughts and find our "facts." But something tells me Oprah will not be one of my sources.