What is this desperate feeling I'm getting from people who are trying to convince themselves that Haruhi is a one dimensional character not capable of compassion or kindness. It's probably part of the whole cult of worship for Haruhi as a "Bonafide God Character" rather than a gifted mortal, that is based on almost no evidence. Face it, as eccentric as she is, deep down she is a confused high school girl who doesn't have a clue what she wants to do with her life and is going through a coming of age. She's putting up a front of outrageous self-confidence when deep down she still has lingering feelings of loneliness and bitterness, you would be too if everybody ignored you and called you weird during your middle school years. Kyon was like the first friend she ever had that didn't prejudge her, that made a huge impact on her that she is still trying to come to terms with, trust takes time to build after you've been shunned and betrayed your whole life.
If you look at her before she met Kyon circa episode 2 she was angry and withdrawn, Kyon managed to establish a bond of trust with her and BANG! now she becomes a hyper genki girl full of energy, but there's still internal conflict within her, she has no idea how to get along with the rest of the SOS Dan because she's never had friends before as she has always been a social outcast, and her intial goal almost seemed to be her trying to get revenge on all the people that shunned her the moment she joined the High School (Pretty much everybody). I don't know she just seems far more down to earth than everyone else here thinks, there are very simple explanations for all the things she is doing, otherwise all her goals would be completely aimless.
And yes she cares about the rest of the gang but it doesn't show until later on, there pretty close all things considered. Basically if you aren't reading the novels, read them now, they are so much more detailed and interesting than the TV series, without them I probably would hate the anime.