The Devil Doesn’t Tell You That He’s The Guy On The Other Side Of The Deal
When you make a deal with the devil, Karma is going to deliver a terrible bill.
By David Grace (www.DavidGraceAuthor.com)
This column is about karma.
If You Sleep With That Woman, Are You Really Getting Lucky?
There are times in our lives when we stumble across something that looks like a great opportunity to get something we really want. All we have to do is cut some corners. Bend our principles. Do the wrong thing.
We know it’s the wrong thing when the question we ask ourselves changes from “Is this the right thing to do?” to “How will anyone ever find out?”
That hot, willing girl who is right there and ready to go. Do you smile and follow her back to her room or think about your wife and just walk away?
Your company is competing for a big order and the customer’s rep lets you know that he could send it your way if you slip him an envelope with a few one-hundred-dollar bills in it. Do you grab the opportunity or pretend you didn’t hear what he said?
Sure, we all know what’s the right thing to do, but what if we really want what we can now get if we just stick out our hand and grab it?
What if your marriage is on shaky ground and that’s the most beautiful woman you’ve ever had a shot at? What if that new order will put you over the top for your annual bonus?
How far are you willing to go to get what you want so badly?
That’s where karma comes in.
Karma Has A Nasty Way Of Taking Its Revenge
Sure, maybe our little transgression will work out perfectly. But maybe that girl is underage or has an STD or has a boyfriend who makes his living by blackmailing the married men she picks up.
How often have we been tempted to do the wrong thing in order to get what we want, secure in the belief that it will never come back to bite us on the ass?
But it often does, one way or another.
Karma is like that.
Karma Is Always Testing Us
I believe that sometimes the universe decides to test us. It lets us know we can have what we want if we’re willing to look the other way, if we’re willing to take something that doesn’t belong to us, or abandon a friend, break a commitment, tell a lie, let someone down, or do a deal with the devil.
Then karma watches and waits.
Sometimes we get away with it. Sometimes we only think we got away with it and later we get screwed in ways we don’t even realize. Sometimes we know we didn’t get away with it at all.
The Devil Never Tells You His Name
You know, the devil doesn’t really walk up to you and say, “Hi, I’m Satan. In exchange for your soul I’ll give you a million dollars.” Please. The Prince of Lies is much smarter than that.
No, he puts that easy girl or sleazy purchasing agent into your path and waits for you to say “Yes.”
He never tells you you’re going to lose your soul as part of the deal. He never even tells you he’s involved in the deal.
Germany In 1930
I’ve been thinking about Germany in 1930. It’s economy was a mess. People were desperate for stability, jobs and prosperity. They craved regaining their lost dignity and the world’s respect. They had been humiliated and longed for Germany to be great again.
And along came Hitler who promised them all those things. He would invigorate the economy by rebuilding the military. A militarized Germany would be a power to be reckoned with. He would punish the Jews for supposedly betraying Germany and causing it to lose WW I.
He offered everything the German people wanted: Respect, Revenge, Power, and Wealth.
They Lied To Themselves
They all knew what Hitler and the Nazis were. They knew what they were going to do. But they wanted what they were offering, so they lied to themselves; they told themselves that the Nazis weren’t really that bad.
The businessmen who controlled Bayer, Mercedes, BASF, Merck and the rest were sure that they held the real power and that when push came to shove Hitler would do what he was told. The generals thought so too.
The social elite and the academics dismissed his rhetoric as just the nonsense politicians say in order to get the rabble to support them. They were sure he wasn’t really going to do all that stuff.
The average person was sure that he was a great man who would do the right thing for the country. He would make Germany great again.
Sure, Hitler’s plans seemed a bit extreme, but that was just Hitler being Hitler. He wasn’t really going to do all that stuff, and even if he did, the Jews deserved it didn’t they? Besides, as long as you weren’t a Jew it wasn’t your problem.
The Germans gave themselves a million excuses to ignore what the Nazi party was and what it was going to do. The German people engaged in a massive exercise in willful disbelief. They wanted Germany to be great again, and they were sure Hitler was going to get that for them. Nothing else mattered.
For A While, The Germans Got Everything They Were Promised
And you know what? He did make Germany great again, for a while.
Call me crazy, but I think karma set that poisoned apple in front of the German people as a test, just to see if they were stupid enough and desperate enough and morally bankrupt enough to pick it up and take a bite. And they were. And they did
Hitler was the hot and willing girl at the bar, the sleazy rep ready to give you that big order, the crooked building inspector offering to sign off on your shoddy wiring.
And Hitler delivered. He got the economy humming. Everybody got a job. Germany became powerful again. The Jews were punished for their supposed betrayal.
And Then Karma Presented The Bill
And within fifteen years after the German people made their deal with the devil the entire country was utterly destroyed. Destroyed.
Karma’s a bitch.
So, let’s not pull any punches here.
We Know About Trump
We all know that Donald Trump is a pathological liar.
We know that for personal political gain he deliberately misled the American people about the danger from the COVID virus to the tune of over 200,000 dead before even the end of September 2020.
We know he’s somehow in Russia’s pocket.
We know he loves dictators.
We know that for political purposes he’s ramping up a trade war with China.
He’s enacting his own laws by executive order as if he were a king.
He’s trying to banish private businesses with the stroke of a pen.
He’s sabotaged the Post Office in order to interfere with mail-in voting.
He’s politicized the CDC into giving medical advice that matches his political rhetoric.
He’s already talking about serving a third term in violation of the Constitution.
He’s politicized the Justice Department and interfered with the courts in order to help his criminal friends.
Everyone with even half a working brain knows he’s a dishonest, untrustworthy, demagogue, narcissist, megalomaniac.
But he’s promised to give his supporters what they want, and it looks like he’s delivering.
- He claims he’s the reason the stock market is doing well.
- He’s bitch-slapping the disliked Chinese.
- He’s promised to stop the dirty Mexicans from getting into the country.
- He’s going to make sure everybody can get their own an unregistered assault rifle.
- He’s going to take medical insurance away from millions of Americans.
- He’s going to appoint judges who will make abortion and gay marriage illegal again.
- He’s going to keep taxes low on rich people.
- He’s going to keep labor cheap and workers poor so businesses can make higher profits.
The Lies We Tell Ourselves
I hear my educated, intelligent friends give me the same sorts of self-serving excuses that the Germans used to justify supporting Hitler:
- Sure, he’s a little crazy, but he cut my taxes and the market is up.
- Sure, he lies all the time, but he’s standing up to China
- Sure, he’s mean and nasty, but he’s appointed conservative judges.
- Sure, six times he ran his companies into bankruptcy and screwed everyone who dealt with him, but he’s going to keep a lid on those lawless black people.
- Sure, he’s somehow in Russia’s pocket, but he’s going to get rid of all those pollution laws and business regulations.
- Sure, he thinks he’s above the law and wants to run the country by executive order as if he were king, but he’s going to stop the liberals from taking all my money.
Trusting A Scoundrel Is A Fool’s Game
When you drill all the way down to his supporters’ bottom line, to their justification for wanting him in the White House again, it’s always the same:
“It doesn’t matter how bad a person the President is. The only thing that counts is that I think he’s going to run the country the way I want it run.
“A President’s character doesn’t matter. His integrity doesn’t matter. His decency, honesty, fairness, truthfulness, none of that matters. The only thing that counts is that I think he’s going to give me what I want.”
How well did that plan work out for the Germans?
The American people are being tempted and tested. Trump is our poison apple.
You may think that putting that thoroughly amoral megalomaniac in control of America is going to work out well for the country. It won’t.
You may think it’s going to pay off for you. It won’t.
You’re playing a fool’s game.
I have four truisms for you:
- Be careful what you wish for.
- Only a fool trusts a scoundrel
- Those who lie down with dogs get fleas.
- Karma’s a bitch.
— David Grace (www.DavidGraceAuthor.com)
