There is an adjunct professor whom I take to the university every now and again in the cab. She teaches American & African American Studies classes. We hadn't spoken much since the spring semester, but we got right back into issues without missing a beat. With Katrina and Rita and possibly the Santa Maria to come later in the year, hurricanes have exposed many problems with the American way of life. I couldn't quite put my finger on why all of the donations, telethons and ex-Presidents pleading for money bothered me so much. After all, isn't charity a good thing in the wake of a natural disaster? Then the professor posed the question that summed up my turmoil: Can capitalism and humanity coexist in America?

There's the rub, and it's been grating on me lately. While photographers and journalists were bullied out of New Orleans days after the flooding, Marshall Law ensued. Don't take any pictures of dead bodies and cops fighting local residents. Don't show the ugliness of humanity. We've got to raise some money to pay for this stuff. Even as bodies floated by dead on the mouth of the Mississippi River, everyone geared up for their telethon.

There's something a little sick about watching musical performers, or NBA basketball players, or Monday Night Football to support victims of a hurricane. I do all of those things but not in the name of tragedy. I watch entertainment to entertain me, not to be humane. I spend money for food and drink and gas and rent. That's the necessity of capitalism. Spending money has never made me feel humane. It takes actual eye-to-eye contact with individuals to be humane. Charity is capitalism's illusion of being humane.

This is a chronic problem with capitalism. When tragedy happens, when war happens, when anything happens, the capitalist solution is to throw money at it. Shower the bleeding and dying with one dollar bills. That will fix everything. People gave cash donations to 9-11 and the Indian Ocean Tsunami. Throw money at it. Everything is fixed now, right? Tragedy is conquered by money, correct? It's not? Maybe if we threw some more money at it.

While the South is still dazed and confused after two hurricanes crashed onto their borders, political pundits are pointing fingers at each other. Who's fault was it? Was it your fault? It wasn't my fault. I blame you. I don't want to lose my job. I point the finger at you. You are the one! You are to blame! I wash my hands of this situation! God Bless Capitalism!

Just for the record, hurricanes occur every single year. That's why they call it hurricane season. The Caribbean must deal with them much more than America. Where are their telethons on Monday Night Football? It would be humane to help those not so far from our borders. If they had only been Americans. Then, we could have evoked the Capitalism Clause.

The President has been accused of being racist and classist. Kanye West screamed that "Bush hates black people." We are learning what we should have known all along: Our President is not humane. He's a businessman, and therefore, he's a capitalist.

More than anything, capitalists are interested in capital. In the case of our President, he was an oil man. He was good at collecting a paycheck and giving jobs to his good friends and associates. He helps out his own, and the rest of us have to deal with it whether we like it or not. Why did we go to war with Iraq? Terror? I don't think so. It helped out Halliburton. He thought it would help out his oil buddies. Sure, it would kill and wound thousands of people and stir up a hornet's nest of hate and contempt for America, but think of all the government contracts!

Doing the humane thing is not part of the agenda. When you are not humane, then by default, you become racist, and classist, and because of your lack of humanity, you hate black people, and brown people, and poor people. It's not in an active, slanderous way, but rather, it occurs through your indifference. Bush never mentioned the poor when he ran for President. He didn't think about the poor. He talked about taxes. He talked about safety. He talked about terror. He didn't bring up humanity. It didn't occur to him until the ugliness of humanity forced him to think about it.

This country has come to the first significant crossroad of the 21st Century. We are at war (which we started), we have a major city destroyed (which we failed to protect), we have no money left in reserve (which we spent), and our two major ideologies are polarized and blaming each other for letting it all happen. It's time for some completely new ways of thinking. A penny for your new thoughts? Will that motivate you?

I don't mind making money. I eat better, drink better and watch more entertainment when the money is abundant. That is capitalism, and it works. I try not to make money at the unnecessary expense of others. The professor whom I drove to work called for the ride, and I picked her up. I'm not trying to scam anyone or make sure I make an extra buck for me and mine. I try to be fair and consider everyone. That's humanity, and it works as well.

The question remains: Can capitalism coexist with humanity? I think it can, but will it?

Chris Jungle does not give money to ex-Presidents for any reason.