General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A Karmic Moment? [View all]Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)But there is no cosmic force which distributes supernatural goodness based upon the worth of our actions.
I do a lot of good deeds. I have donated hundreds and hundreds of hours to the poor and disadvantaged -- primarily children. I do this despite being desperately poor myself.
I have never had these efforts work to my ultimate advantage. You're lucky to have someone say thank you. Nor is karma working out well for the victim in the story we are discussing. She apparently had guardian angels lining up to hand her free daycare, free auto repairs, and even free cash to the tune of hundreds of dollars. I've never seen any of that in my life. To have earned all this karmic goodness, this victim must be a freaking saint, but if she actually was and karma works, why is she broke to begn with?
Why is this saint broke while Mitt "Scissorhands" Romney is worth a half-billion? He's destroyed thousands of jobs, he's wrecked people's lives and stolen their futures, he ENJOYS firing people and thinks half the country are worthless scum, his hobbies include torturing gay kids and stealing pensions. His karmic reward is unimaginable wealth, the best healthcare money can buy, and all the toys in the world. His life is and always has been paradise. He's never needed to worry about missing a meal or finding a job; he's never sat awake wondering if he is having a heart attack; he's never stitched up a wound on himself, or ignored an infected tooth because he cannot afford a doctor; he's never had a Christmas with nothing under the tree for his children. If he has car trouble he can buy the dealership. And statistically he'll live longer than the poor bastards he loves to fire. Hell, he even gets to pay less in taxes than they do.
His big heartbreak was that he couldn't buy the Presidency. It's nopt karma, Mitt Romney doesn't decerve to be rich. And this little princess doesn't DESERVE her cancer.
Why, you might ask, do I care. The reason is this:
Magical thinking like this gets in the way of solutions. It empowers those who who are dismissive of society's less fortunate, they are there because they deserve it -- god or karma is smiting them -- and it allows us the false comfort of believing that things will work out without our intervention. And where that not enough, it turns true charity into pay-for-play. We should be good to one another always, not to earn karma points or post mortem rewards, but because we recognize that life is not fair and we believe that by working together we can make the world a better place.