Karma, Justice and Retribution
Karma, Justice and Retribution
The quest for cosmic balance and fairness
It’s been a while since I wrote one of these letters to you. I apologise. The reason for this delay is two-fold. One part is that this article took a while because it touches on three topics and I wanted to ensure I had a sufficient understanding of each topic. The other is that I have been seriously ill for the last two weeks and only just recovered. The brush with mortality has left me feeling a little disconnected from day-to-day life.
Bite
Karma’s a bitch
Chew
Karma
Karma is a spiritual principle that embodies the concept of cosmic cause and effect. It states that good deeds and actions generate good karma while bad deeds and actions lead to bad karma. The acts and intent of an individual are causes which influence the future of that individual as effects.
It is impossible, however, to separate the concept of karma from that of reincarnation. We must understand the one to appreciate the other because of its cumulative nature. Karma manifests across incarnations.
Today, we deride the existence of karma based on the obvious fact that bad things happen to good people and bad people get away with bad deeds. We think the concept to be worthless.
The concept of karma certainly has value. It teaches us to abstain from actions that bring about suffering to others if we want to avoid suffering ourselves and to do good to ensure that good things happen to us. In an ideal world, we would teach everyone about karma. Everyone would do good and abstain from harming others.
But this is not an ideal world. We do not all understand or believe in samsara. We do not aspire to nirvana. And if you have to look up the meaning of these things, you have no place saying Karma does not exist.
Karma is not just a word. It is an entire philosophy that guides the foundational belief systems adhered to by several religions. Just like we would not appreciate the trivialisation of the tenets of our religion, we should respect those of others as well.
Sip #1 - In an examination of a more immediate aspect of the topic, Fyodor Dostoevsky explores the conscience as the karmic baggage we carry around with us in his book 'Crime and Punishment' ('Crime and Punishment' is in the public domain so I can share a copy.)
Justice
Even though modern society is predicated on the idea of fairness, I find the concept hilarious. The idea that the universe is fair or that it possesses some innate morality to which it must adhere is certainly chuckle-worthy if not outright ridiculous. If that were the case, then unfairness would not exist in the first place. The same argument holds with the nature of God as well. If God were good, then he would not create or allow evil to exist. Sadly, both of these situations are not the case.
Sip #2 - In theistic terms, there is no solution to this problem of evil that does not require a certain amount of mental gymnastics. The proposed answers to circumventing this problem are called theodicies. There is an introductory video to this on the CrashCourse Youtube channel.
This is not a criticism of the divine but a criticism of the way we as humans understand nature and our existence within it. We sometimes conflate the rules of human nature with the laws of nature themselves.
When we talk about Justice and Fairness in the context of the state, we are usually talking about one of two things; Redistribution or Retribution;
Redistributive Justice - the reallocation of resources among people in an ideological equitable system.
Retributive Justice - the idea that damage done to one party can only be rectified by the infliction of equal harm to the offending party or the provision of equal compensation.
Sip #3 - Other justice systems do exist if you are interested in further research. This article is a useful starting point as it explains related systems using the same classification.
The problem with these systems is that what is equitable is decided by the moral convictions of our societies.
Because moral convictions form the foundations of our beliefs and the resultant opinions which we hold, we tend to react viscerally when we think they are under attack. This leads to the loss of our sense of objectivity.
Sip #4 - Shankar Vendantam delves into the topic of moral convictions and their resultant effects on this episode of the Hidden Brain podcast.
Justice systems - whether economic redistributive or criminal retributive - are protectionist. They are designed to protect those considered to be weaker members of our society. Whether they be victims of fate or their fellows.
We all have different starting points (in terms of abilities and privileges), society tries to even the field. This is to ensure everyone has an equal chance to reach the finish line. However, individuals are free. Because they are free, they are different. They make varied choices under similar circumstances. When people make these differing choices, they will have differing outcomes.
If this premise holds, a question very soon presents itself. Why should any person have to pay for the misfortunes of another when they bear no responsibility for it? Especially when this initial sacrifice can do nothing for equalizing outcomes.
Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions
- T.S. Elliot
The idea of social justice, like the society upon which it is founded, is subject to change over time. Today, it is moving away from equalizing opportunities, to ensuring that everyone, regardless of their inherent and natural differences, is entitled to equal outcomes. We believe that if some people cannot reach the finish line, then the finish line is the problem. The solution is to move it.
The idea of equality is so rooted in our moral convictions that we loathe anything that may be a contravention of that ideal. This is what makes conversations about equality almost impossible to have. Good intentions and evil.
Retribution
"and if a man smite you on one cheek, SMASH him on the other!; smite him hip and thigh, for self-preservation is the highest law!"
Anton Svador Lavey - The Satanic Bible
Mankind’s sin was not eating the forbidden fruit. It was becoming self-aware. From the moment man could differentiate himself from other beings, we understood shame, and we understood suffering. From this knowledge of what could cause these things in us, we understood how to cause them in others. We understood how to make others suffer.
When a person decides to do us harm, they do so knowing full well the extent to which their actions will cause us to suffer. Of course, there are exceptions. Sometimes, the actions of a person may only harm us indirectly. The people we love will also often harm us without meaning to. We must be conscionable enough to identify when this is the case. However, in almost every other instance, when a person does us harm, it is with intent.
How then do we respond to such calculated maliciousness? One option is to look to the state to enforce its ever-changing definition of justice. However, if this does not satisfy us, we may take matters into our own hands (or fists, depending on your preference). We may seek personal retribution.
Lex talionis is the ancient principle of an eye for an eye. Although it has been interpreted in several ways, some extreme and some lenient, it has maintained at its core however that when an injury is inflicted, compensation is owed.
"If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye. If one break a man's bone, they shall break his bone. If one destroy the eye of a freeman or break the bone of a freeman he shall pay one gold mina. If one destroy the eye of a man's slave or break a bone of a man's slave he shall pay one-half his price."
The Code of Hammurabi - Law #196
One may choose to adopt the principle of talio (Latin. retaliation) to serve as a deterrent for those who wish to do us harm. If a person harms us with intent and our retaliation fails to be equal or greater, their actions have yielded them a net profit. They are likely to repeat them. To prevent this, we must ensure that they suffer a loss as a consequence of their actions
While personal retribution may seem tempting, without the backing of a judicial system, there is the danger of creating an unending cycle of vengeance. This can occur at any moment if any of the involved parties feel a reprisal is unwarranted.
Balance
Like everything that exists, each of these systems has its flaws. Karma for one is painfully slow in its manifestation if it exists. Societally-proscribed justice is prone to perversion and change. Personal retaliation may provoke lifelong vendettas. None of these is a satisfactory answer to our search for cosmic balance.
The problem is that these ideas represent a resistance of natural order. They are attempts to force a change in our circumstances. We can never predict the conditions that affect our actions at any given time. Neither can we divine the effects they will have.
If we seek to find the balance between ourselves and the world we exist in, we must learn to accept events as they occur. The human race has survived so long only because of its ability to adapt. Forcing ourselves into predefined boxes is surely no way to live. Whether those boxes are defined by religion, society, or emotion.
You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.
- Bruce Lee
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