A punk-ass answer: no, then yes, and it depends!

In my (limited) understanding, the word karma in the common Western vocab is a bit different from the concept in Hindu tradition.

It reminds me of how we use the word ego, which most English speakers would describe as something like a sense of self-importance or arrogance.

But we don't really have an English word that matches the one we would also translate as "ego" from some ancient South Asian text - which could be described as a sense of a self which is indivdual and separate from everything and everyone else.

Very different concept, but we use the same word in English. Similar to the word karma.

So karma, as it's usually used in English = fuck around and find out? If you do something "bad" then "bad" things will happen to you? No I don't see much evidence for that - not in that sense.

But coming from a lens of Hundusim or Buddhism I've seen karma described as simple cause and effect. If you do something "bad" that usually implies someone or something gets hurt and suffers, and that is your effect. A law of nature that is observable and measurable, like Newton's 3rd law.

The effect might be that something "bad" happens to you, but that's really subjective right?

Maybe the bad is that people are angry with you or hate you. That might bother some more than others, and it might be hard to notice, but it's still there. You might just feel guilty and suffer from that, or it may reinforce more of your own prickish tendencies which leads to other consequences down the track. Or you might really piss someone off and get punched in the mouth, which is more obvious.

So to me, karma is just cause and effect. Actions have consequences and ripple out, even if the consequences might not be so visible on the surface.