Someone wrote (and I can’t find it now, because Twitter) that the notion of karma is harmful in society because it leads people to believe that, not only do bad people eventually have bad things happen to them (applicable in these times), but it leads to thinking that, if something bad happens to you, that you’re a bad person and somehow deserve it.

The point was that economic hardship faced by people in this capitalist society was explained away by karma. That “if you can’t afford it, if you go broke, then it’s obviously a personal failing.” And while I see that, I don’t think that EVERYONE sees it that way. Especially in this here US of A.

I know a ton of good people, some of whom may be reading this now. And I know a lot of those good people have gone through some shit. Because of my capacity for empathy, because I’ve been through some shit as well, and because I’m aware that good things happen to bad people, I can also believe that bad things can happen to good people. I believe that’s the difference with this.

Sure, those who’ve never been broke, or never had something repossessed, or faced down a huge hospital bill, would look at the array fo GoFundMes and requests for CashApp and think those people must be doing something wrong. That they must be deficient in some way. But their experience isn’t open to the fact that, perhaps, bad things happen to good people too. And in a society which sees you as a cog anyway, someone who will be replaced tomorrow at work, one or two paychecks from being homeless, savings almost nil…I think enough of us have that empathy to understand and rejective notion that, just because someone’s not doing well, that they necessarily deserve it.