Karma.

So I was rereading Nivedan's opinions column "Life, the Universe, and Everything.", and it really hit me. It's a really good article, and it makes me want to stop believing in karma.

Karma is a rather nice concept to believe in, what with all the assurance that good will come to those that deserve it, while evildoers will be punished in the natural order of things. Truth is, life is not quite as kind to us as we'd like to think. The most virtuous can live in the most miserable conditions, while those devoid of morals bask in the rewards of  their corruption and selfishness.

So why is it then that this idealistic model of reality exist at all in the face of contradiction? It seems as though people naturally want the guarantee of a reward to their righteousness, a reason to be moral in their actions. 

The problem with this notion is that it assumes that terms such as "good" and "bad" are but relative terms, and an action deemed virtuous in one scenario may be viewed as the complete opposite in another. One could, perhaps, define "good" by what one thinks "good" is. But then again, Hitler believed his actions were for the greater good of Germany.

It really makes you not wanna believe in karma anymore. It really opened my eyes that we believe in karma, just because we want those that did "bad" things to have bad things done to them, and those that do "good" things to have good things done to them. We want to punish the bad and reward the good, but sometimes, that doesn't happen. Life is unfair. Karma's a fantasy. Nivedan is correct.