Warning: Long, drawn out vent/rant; a therapy session long overdue so to speak.
I think I lean more towards you two in the way that I don't think karma works in either direction (for better or for worse, if that makes sense). I've seen good people get so fucked over when they've done nothing to deserve the pain and suffering they experience and I've seen wretched people make away with all the happiness in the world =/
I'm trying to decide if my ex has paid his "karmic debt" these days (well, when I think of him once in a while; as time passes I think of him less and less). He and I dated for two years; fought on and off like banshies. We were actually at a somewhat peaceful point when I took in my best friend after she got kicked out of her house. They then got a job at the same place and started spending time together which lead to them moving out and her getting knocked up, and within six weeks she was hitting him and breaking his things. He came crawling back to me before he knew she was pregnant and like the idiot I was, I took him back. We were together for no more than a week when he got a phone call saying, "I'm pregnant." It's not even a full guarantee that it's his considering the fact that she cheated on him about two weeks into things--and he knows full well about that--but they both seem to think it's his baby. The baby is almost a year old now and last I heard, they had moved back in together but fought like crazy. They seem to have an extremely volatile relationship and that's somewhat of a pattern I've come to notice from him. It was as if he got bored when things got good, so at the two year mark--just when things were getting peaceful between us--he ran off.
It's needless to say the two of them did some pretty horrible, fucked up things. On top of that, they both tried to play it off as they were just house mates for the first few weeks as if I was some sort of idiot and didn't realize that they were fucking. He confessed to me that they had indeed slept with one another but that it would never happen again. Of course it happened again, a lot

I can only hope that they've grown up A LOT (they're 26 and 21 years old) since all of this happened a year and a half ago. From what I've heard, they're lucky her parents can help out financially despite her father's business going down the drain. If it wasn't for her family, that baby wouldn't have anything it needs as they both work serving jobs at mediocre restaurants which pay jack crap, definitely not enough to properly support a child IMO.
Look at me, venting about this. I've done it several times here at BL. Truthfully it feels good to get this off my chest because I rarely speak of what happened with him and you guys are the only people I wanna confide in about this. I am so embarrassed I even think about him still, let alone dated him for two years!
ANYWAY, back on topic: I do wonder if he has paid his "karmic debt" fully and I'm curious to know whether or not they're actually happy. I could rest in peace knowing the two of them are incredibly disappointed with life but I do wish the best for their poor, poor baby.
I don't think "karma" could even things out unless it absolutely destroys his life at some point though. He ruined me financially and emotionally (he didn't work a good portion of our time together and I always paid the rent, gas, groceries, etc., driving me into 3k of debt which I have only recently paid off), and it's only been as of late that I've been able to discuss this with ease. I mean I'm still a bit angry even a year and a half after the fact because damn, my best friend and my lover pulled a Jerry Springer on me and fucked me the fuck over! I don't know what could possibly equal this in his life, so I doubt he'll ever experience the pain I've felt unless something truly, truly awful happens to him.
Damn, that felt good. I do believe I've made off pretty well, however. In a very interesting way I am so lucky that he did this to me because I never would've gotten to where I am now otherwise. For starters I met a man who is actually worth my love (and I'm finally at a point where I can say I'm a damn fine catch

), extremely intelligent and driven, educated, handsome... the list goes on... and we're planning on getting married some time within the next two years (either before or after we move to D.C. in a year). He's a hell of a man and a damn fine Marine officer, and he's taken me places and allowed me to do things I never would've done otherwise. He drives me to be a better person whereas my ex made me wanna consume all the drugs in the world (and I did!) and constantly told me I was a horrible person. On top of this man of my dreams, I'm almost done with school after taking a few years off (I dropped out per the ex's request because he got jealous of me being off at university; how stupid!) AND all of my familial problems are sorted out as my family finally trusts me again after years of lying, drugs, and all around wretchedness on my part.
For the first time in a long time I find myself actually bragging about where I am, who I'm with, and where I'm going =) So, maybe "karma" does exist in my case. After years of getting shit on and being dreadfully screwed over by the two most trusted people in my life and subsequently living out an actual Jerry Springer episode, I learned many a valuable lesson and as a result have become the person I am today: a balanced, healthy, happy person =)
Karma is a nice idea though =)