Who would be on a list of bad people who have "escaped karma"?
I was discussing karma with a friend. She has had some terrible things happen to her and thinks karma owes a break. I don’t believe in karma and pointed out some horrible things that have happened to ordinary people who have done nothing to deserve it. I also wanted to point out some people who have gotten away with terrible crimes, but couldn’t think of many specific examples. Meyer Lansky, Idi Amin, and “Baby Doc” Duvalier died in relative comfort. Can you think of any other major criminals, tyrants, dictators, etc., who lived past 60 and never had to answer for the blood on their hands (at least not in this life)?
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Dick Cheney and the others who lied about the WMDs and got us into the Iraq War.
General Francisco Franco of Spain
There is no such thing as karma, believe me :)
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz. Yes I know that he is suffering in poor health, but that’s par for the course at the age of 89.
Soldiers throughout history that escape Karma due to their career in military.
@Inspired_2write I retired from the U.S. Army. I never went over seas (never shot a bullet at anyone) and spent my entire military “career” working in Army medical research labs and clinical labs at 3 medical centers. Oh I’m such an EVIL monster! HA!
Augusto Pinochet. Cheney and the worm that was special elections adviser… Karl Rove.
My incomplete understanding of karma isn’t that it’s necessarily a justice mechanism imposed through some outside force. Rather, it’s about skillful and unskillful actions and what is likely to lead to certain results. Of course, this could be a Westernized version that has little to do with traditional concepts. I’m not sure.
But what you’re really asking is if we can think of people who didn’t “have to answer” for their bad deeds. I’m assuming you’re not meaning in some kind of psychological or spiritual sense. The “answer” here is probably in the legal sense. And we are also likely targeting specific legal institutions and laws in place at the time of their crimes? For example, could we include slave owners or powerful advocates for slavery?
I think we could make a case that only a small percentage of people who have caused major suffering have had to “answer” – most U.S. presidents, crimes during war, rapists, murderers, etc. Fairness doesn’t appear to be something cooked into existence. It might be more interesting to come up with a handful of people who did really bad things and had to “answer”. But in my mind, however, even in these cases, the answering doesn’t really fix anything.
^ Yet another long-winded answer that doesn’t actually answer the question, brought to you by a confused human being. Sorry.
I don’t believe any person can possess enough knowledge of, or insight into, another “ordinary” person’s deeds and their consequences (and definitely not those of someone he’s never met) to know that person has been or will be properly punished or rewarded for those deeds. Only the person himself/herself can know that. Add to that the fact that karma (if it exists) can manifest itself in an infinite number of subtle ways, not necessarily grandiose ones.
Someone I work with, who is very phony, and who constantly goes over people’s heads to get what she wants. She uses people at every opportunity.
Hitler never paid for his crime.
It’s often difficult to assess the demons which afflict those walking around among us. How can you know who is or isn’t being tortured? Most of us are very good at maintaining a smooth veneer.
Millions of pi cops.
Every soldier in history that survived and was not crippled.
Thousands of priests.
Every judge that convicted someone innocent.
Every slave owner that was not killed by his own slaves.
Every supporter of the patriarchy in history.
Oh so many people.
I would wager the majority of all humans that ever lived.
I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to ask, but when I tried to write it, this question turned out to be hard to word, and judging from some of the answers, I did an even worse job of writing it than I thought. Either that or some people are deliberately misreading it (on Fluther? Never!). Thanks to those who caught my drift and tried to answer in the spirit of what was asked.
ALL politicians and COUNTLESS clergymen.
Karma isn’t some mystical force of punishment and reward. There’s no “I did something good/bad today, so something good/bad is going to happen to me later”. Karma is, simply put, cause and effect. Every day our actions, attitude and relations to people and the world around us effect the world around us and people’s relations to us. That’s karma. Karma is not winning $100 on a scratch-off lottery ticket because you helped some little old lady cross the street.Karma is not tripping and breaking your leg because you took a dollar out of a bartender’s tip jar.
@gondwanalon
I only meant soldiers who were involved in direct action, all throughout history.
No ill intent meant.
Grrrrrrrrr trying desperately not to derail my own thread, but you [deleted][redacted][censored] who equate a 19-year-old kid drafted to fight in Vietnam with Joseph fucking Stalin are making it really hard.
~~exhaaaaaaaaaale~~
All right. I’ll make it really simple. This is general, not social. Give me NAMES, or don’t respond to this thread.
I need to add one to my list. Ted Nugent. Such a dick. I don’t want to hear about his shit through another Presidential election cycle.
What’s the difference between Ted Nugent and Kurt Cobain? Cobain shot a man he didn’t like. Ted only talks about shooting people he doesn’t like.
Karma will come to them after the death
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