I’m sitting here at Costa Coffee on a Saturday morning, hard at work. The place is absolutely full of beautiful young people. Sometimes their parents are beautiful young people too.
It reminds me a lot of that old REM tune: Shiny Happy People.
I recognize some of them. I wonder to myself: what kind of crimes and sacrifices have some of these people done in their lives? So that their children can grow up in designer clothing sipping € 5 lattes and driving € 80,000 BMWs?
What kind of a karma debt do these poor children have?
One saying goes that the fruit does not fall far from the tree.
The Bible contains more linear causality:
“The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” (Ezekiel 18)
And
“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.” (Matthew 7).
Every major religion has the question of accountability at its core.
But it seems that today, our only accountability is based on ability to consume. If you can consume, you are successful. If you are successful, all is forgiven.
There is no other metric needed.
I still can’t help wondering how some of these people can sleep at night. And how much damage will be visited upon their children.
Now back to work.