IS THERE SUCH A THING AS KARMA?
Karma has become the consoler for the dispossessed, downtrodden, marginalized, disenfranchised, maltreated, and forgotten masses in the developing world. A wicked, shameless, misanthropic, and murderous dictator for 40 years, is struck down by a stroke at age 80. Gullible citizens invoke Karma as the cause. Balderdash! The life expectancy of the country’s citizen is 50 years and this ogre of an individual is still alive and kicking after 80 with a mild paralysis of the left side. Karma even missed the right side because he is right handed. At least Karma should have disabled his right side.
Most of his subjects, who are already dead 30 years earlier, if given a choice, would have gladly exchanged their early demise without Karma at 50, for opulent luxury and Karma at 80. Real Karma should have struck this greedy “bastard” while he was raping his country and citizens. The incidence of stroke, heart attacks, cancer, dementia, Parkinson’s, and death increases with age. Therefore, Karma will eventually get you, whether you have lived a good life or not, unless you die young.
Another event ascribed to Karma is greed. A successful drug runner who has compromised officials for years is suddenly apprehended. Voila Karma. Yea right! A replacement official unaware of the arrangement and doing his/her job apprehended the drug runner. Police and media involvement precludes any cover up. If the greedy drug runner had given up the lucrative business and plowed profits into a legitimate business, “Karma” would have been kept at bay. Greed and easy money are the Karma. The saying, “Every day for the thief, one day for the master,” is more karmarous than Karma.
Stupidity is often ascribed to Karma. Any illegitimate, dangerous, or death defying activity carries risk. As statisticians already know, the chances of a mishap increases as the same dangerous activity is repeated. A race car driver is likely to die in a crash, a serial rapist would eventually be caught, a mountain climber is likely to encounter an avalanche. To the gullible these are all Karma. There are yearly plane crashes, but a crash involving a notorious personality is Karma. What of the hundreds if not thousands killed yearly in plane crashes? Are all those deaths due to Karma? I do not think so. The notorious, are more likely to be victims of a plane crash because they fly often.
A pastor dies unexpectedly in an accident and the gullible do not invoke Karma. An older member of the mafia dies in a plane crash and Karma got him. For Karma to be of relevance, it should strike early in the trend of serial malfeasance. Most dictators in Africa, or Presidents for life, are over 70 years old. One is approaching 100 years. Is Karma on vacation and waiting for all to reach 100 years? Is Karma going for the impoverished citizens before it immobilizes the dictators? Karma should start its job at the right time. And do not inject religion in it because Karma as presently described is irreligious. It is touted as the universal law of nature. The leaders of the Khmer Rouge who massacred millions of Cambodians are still waiting for Karma.
Natural events afflicting “good” people are ignored and similar events afflicting “bad” people is Karma. A notorious criminal who is health conscious will outlive a decent citizen who overindulges. Wealth “bacchanalizes” and absolute wealth bacchanalizes absolutely. A wealthy criminal is more likely to overindulge in food, alcohol, sex, and revelry. It is therefore unsurprising that there are earlier health consequences. His/her ass broke sycophantic hangers-on, will endure the same fate whether they are criminally minded or not. These are just coincidences.
In closing, humans should try and correct evil behavior, whether political, social, economic, or cultural by appropriate countermeasures and not wait on Karma. Karma is random, never happens or is coincidental.
A word is enough for the wise but repeated drumming of the same word may still leave the gullible, more gullible.
Africastallestman wants Karma thrown overboard and replaced with common sense which may be more difficult to acquire than karmarous thinking.
All of us, strong and weak humans existentially, are wont to conjecture from our personal and group experiences,paralyzingly, almost about events by looking backwards and in our imagination linking the past somehow with the present and the future. From this point of view, we ourselves are, or presume to be the judge and jury in regard to our impressions. We even do not most times have facts from experience to support our conclusions about our impressions. Many thousands perished, including whole congregation in a church services, that Sunday morning, in 1755 in Lisbon. We want just to judge events. Where does the so-called Karma come in, in terms of Lisbon? If the idea of karma results from peoples wish, for those who wrong them to pay certain price, then it may be understandable, but with a hitch all of its own. Speaking of Karma, you may ask:What about the Europeans who massacred Blacks and got away with till now. What about Genghis khan, who slaughtered his way along Eurasia unperturbed? What about Chief Nwaeboko of Abakaleki? You ask for the meaning of Karma? Karma seems to me to nothing but, the figment of our imagination, and moreover; our wish fulfilling element and plain hope that nature will ultimately punish our enemies or those who perpetuated evil on us…in every culture, that I know, this appears to be all we practice socially. This stance appears to be the refuge of the downtrodden as you mentioned. Religion cannot redress our pain and politics far away from helping us ether,…we just wish our way through inevitable metaphysics…existential vacuum , that keeps us hoping and wishing through life.