It’s almost as if we in our insular little cocoons provided with everything are desperate to get out and help and do something to give.
I have long held the belief that we humans are communal creatures, that we function best in groups of several to several hundred, and that our current cultural paradigms in many ways imprison us just as you describe.
It doesn't have to take a disaster, but it seems only the greatest of disasters can overcome the influences that wall us into our little personal enclaves. Katrina is an example. 9/11 is another example. I think the war in Iraq is an example as well, bringing both supporters and opponents together in a way that would not otherwise exist.
