Do people ever reap what the sow?

[coloradodem2005]

We were saying that when people do something dirty, do they ever pay for it in the end?

[oneighty]

1. No.

Bugs and animals ate my garden.

180

[Bouncy Ball]

2. I believe they do eventually.

Cosmic justice, karma, whatever you want to call it, I believe FIRMLY in it. What goes around comes around. What you give out to the world comes back to you tenfold.

That applies to both good and bad. I like to increase my positive karma whenever I can, though I think I knocked a dent in it with my exchange with a bushbot this morning.

People DO get theirs eventually. But sometimes it takes a VERY long time, so I don't believe in sitting around waiting and watching. It'll happen.

[Bok_Tukalo]

6. That implies some sort of Divine Justice

I'm not sure they do. I think if humans "reaped what they sow" in a real sense, we would not have invented Hell.

[Bouncy Ball]

9. Eh.

:shrug:

Cosmic justice, divine justice. Do you define those differently? I do.

[Bok_Tukalo]

12. How about Universal Moral Equilibrium?

<eom>

[Bouncy Ball]

13. I like that, LOL!

UME.

[Bok_Tukalo]

16. I have a mathmatical equation for evil too

Evil = 1/Empathy

[BlueJazz]

3. I would say ....sometimes... but not because of any Karma...

...but because they get away with it for a long time until they try to screw somebody who just isn't gonna' take there crap and screws them back but (probably) times 10...either with non-violent actions or the other..Beats the shit out of them!!

[Magrittes Pipe]

4. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

I've seen evil in my life. There's no other word for it -- pure, unadulterated evil. Some of those people have suffered in turn, some haven't.

I've seen good in my life. Great, selfless, kindness. Some of those people have been rewarded, some have not.

I've done good things and I've done bad things. Sometimes I've been rewarded, sometimes I've been punished, sometimes neither.

Right now is a time of great reward. Some of it I've earned, some of it I haven't. Such is life.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

5. No.

Good people who sow good get cancer or some other nasty disease and die young. People like Bush who sow death and destruction live to be 110 and die peacefully in bed.

[barb162]

20. it is seeming that way to me too

[Cooper]

7. maybe in the next life. n/t

n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

8. Lee Atwater ended up with brain cancer.

[hickman1937]

11. And a change of heart.

I read somewhere that he attempted to apologize to a lot of people before he died.

[Historic NY]

10. "What goes around, comes around and eventually bites them in the ass"

[onecent]

21. Yes I have seen this several times in the past 3 years. I'm a

firm believer in "What goes around, comes around"...and IS IT FUN to watch when it happens!

[fluffernutter]

14. yes, i think they do.

i believe in positive and negative karma.

[Bouncy Ball]

15. On the other hand

I am open minded enough to think that maybe karma/cosmic justice is just something we tell ourselves to make ourselves feel better about people who have wronged us or others. It might also be something we use to keep ourselves in check to make sure we don't get evil, as well.

:shrug:

[Reverend_Smitty]

17. I suppose if you believe in hell, they do...

but that is not much solace to me because we would have to wait until that person left his/her Earthly state and then they might or might not be punished for what they have done. It doesn't give me comfort to know that "evil-doers" might or might not get their comeuppance after death.

I'd rather believe in karma but some people are immune to even that

[Bouncy Ball]

19. If you believe in reincarnation

as I am inclined to do, you might also think that they will get theirs in another life.

Now THAT'S a long time to wait, LOL!

[Reverend_Smitty]

24. I have a hard time waiting 2 min...

for a microwave burrito to cook, so yes that is quite a long time to wait!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

18. what goes around comes around

even if it appears that someone has "gotten away" with something, their actions has had many effects, some of which may not be immediately apparent.

Here's a couple of examples when I think someone has reaped what they have sewn:

A man with a family history of diabetes drinks heavily, eats a lot of high-calorie, carbohydrate-laden foods, and develops diabetes. He continues making poor eating choices and dies from complications from diabetes.

A man is able to con an elderly couple out of a few hundred bucks. They don't report it out of shame/ignorance. The man decides to try another con, and another, and another-eventually, he runs across someone who reports him and he goes to jail. A good lawyer gets him off with a fine, but he continues doing cons. Eventually, he winds up with a lenghty prison term.

[Az]

22. We do create the world we inhabit

We are a learning species. We learn by example and lesson. That which we do is copied by others. If we choose to be an example of negative behaviour we in time will have that lesson returned to us in the form of action.

Consider Socrates last words (not I drank what?!). He was accused of teaching his students to be evil. He explained that doing such a thing would be foolish. For they would only turn his lessons on him.

We are a social species. We require each other for survival. But we are also a species that learns the vast bulk of its interactions with the world around us. If we decide to load our social constructs with selfish and greedy memes then we can expect to see the quality of life deteriate.

Unfortunately our society has become obsessed with a social construct appropriate for corporations rather than social creatures. Social Darwinism is a very short sighted understanding of how survival of the fittest works. It does not take into consideration social connectiveness and generousity within a group to be positive for the survival of the group. It focuses on survival of the individual.

Thus the right's obsession with freetrade and enabling corporations has lead to a shift in social values. Trending increasingly towards a antisocial corporate model. We are even being educated by reality shows as to how such flawed structures should operate. Programs like Survivor are sold to the public as insites into how human society really operates. But it is an artificial creation not at all like human society. It is a corporate survival of the fittest structure and demonstrates just how diseased it is in a social setting.

There is no universal balance maintaining a tally sheet if that is the question you are asking. But there is a balance of social forces that we do affect. We create the world around us. Its up to us what we put into it and get out of it.

[skygazer]

23. I hope so but I wonder

I have an ex husband who has much to pay for. I have sustained myself with the hope that someday he'd get his because I refuse to lower myself to his level and seek revenge. With my luck, he'll flourish like the green bay tree and I will die sick and poor on the street. :shrug: