Question: How does one deal with the corruption so rampant in society today? Should one resign to it, taking it to be part of the collective karma?

Answer: World-reform follows self-reform. All the evil we find in society, nation or race, the germs of it are in us too. The first step then is to eradicate the germs of "corruption" in us. We may feel that we are not corrupt—may be not in a big way. We must ask ourselves: How would we behave if we had all the advantages of a rich or influential man? What is our desire for wealth like? Do we welcome it no matter how it is earned? Or do we insist upon earning it by honest means—even when we are placed in a difficult financial situation? We are like cells in the body. One unhealthy cell may affect the whole body. H.P.B. suggests that there is no such thing as "separateness." It is an occult law, "No one can sin nor suffer the effects of the sin, alone."

We need not resign to any social evil. Once we find something to be wrong or harmful, we must arouse public opinion in that direction. How does one decide if one's opinion or judgement is right or wrong? H.P.B. gives one general test: "Will the proposed action tend to promote true brotherhood"? We must not attack the person, but attack the system or the fault. In a sense, we have to be Kshatriyas or warriors. The etymology of the word Kshatriya suggests that he is one who saves people from injury.

We must not be passive. By our negative attitude, such as, "a single individual can make no difference," we may allow the evil to swell. For instance, many years ago, people used to give black money to builders. As the amount in question was small, no effort was made to check the practice. As a result, now the evil has spread so much that the amount involved runs into lakhs of rupees. Evil must be nipped in the bud.

The only sense in which we can resign is to tell ourselves that we enjoy the benefits coming from collective Karma. For instance, we enjoy amenities like railways, good distribution and mailing system, electrical gadgets, etc., even though we have no direct hand in building them. In the same way we must not grumble about the discomforts and the evils. We would not be part of such society if we did not have a hand in making the total situation as we find it today. "The sin and shame of the world are your sin and shame; for you are a part of it."

Question: Why are bad children sometimes born to parents who are of good character?

Answer: Individual Egos make individual Karma. Inasmuch as individuals act together as families, sub-races and nations, bound together by common bonds, there is family, racial and national Karma. As Mr. Judge explains, each Ego comes into the world with certain "mental deposits" that can come to fruition in the given life, which includes the soul's environment. An Ego seeking birth is drawn to a family for one or more of the following reasons:

(a) Having generated causes for good or ill together as members of a family, justice demands that the same Egos come together again to meet the effects they produced together in the past. In no other way may the effects be worked out and Karmic adjustment effected. (b) The Ego may be attracted to a family because most of its predominant tendencies and character are common to and in harmony with those of the family. Thus, following the avenue of entrance into life that offers least resistance, the Ego is born in such a family. (c) The circumstances obtainable in a particular family may offer the best possible opportunity to the Ego for the gaining of such experiences as would strengthen its character and develop virtues and overcome vices. (d) The Ego's birth into a family may well be punishment by way of Karmic retribution for past transgressions—the very punishment containing opportunities to restore imbalance created by the Ego in the past, and learn the lessons of life which otherwise would not be learned.

Children with evil disposition may be born to parents of good character because of any one or a combination of the factors mentioned above. It may also be retribution to the parents for past neglect or commission of some sin and now offered the opportunity to make amends.