Life's both Vindictive & Rewarding at the same time, EVERYBODY's living with the consequences/rewards of their CHOICES, including those who did not actively make one (mind you, they passively did).
Life pays back.
…to this end, I'd say life is fair 'cos it never forgets to deal us our returns.
This view could steal from your bag-of-empathy, making you feel everyone deserves what they're going through. Yet it's true we are the architects of our fortune/misfortune by the power of choice.
The transferability of Fortune and Misfortune is real and must be considered in this discourse. A viable angle of study I must say, especially while noting that the consequences/rewards of choices made are also transferable; Father/Mother to child, Friend to Friend, Nation to people, Group to members, Members to group etc.
John D Rockefeller, the renowned American businessman was born into a large family (not here to tell his biography) began to make critical choices at the age of 16 when he became an Assistant Bookkeeper of a firm. His life journey (like ours) was full of choice-making, but I dare to say, he made very informed ones.
A section of my audience would not agree to his prowess of good-choice making being entirely his making and/or product of his skill. They'd believe in the influence of a higher-realm, of course Mr Rockefeller was religious, so religious that he gave a tenth of his earnings to his local Christian assembly.
In one of his famous quotes he said;
"I NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TITHE THE FIRST MILLION DOLLARS I EVER MADE IF I HAD NOT TITHED MY FIRST SALARY, WHICH WAS $1.50 PER WEEK."
— JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER
NB: His tithing was a choice too!
While the purpose of this article would not be his religious practice, as it obviously was not the only choice he made in his lifetime, it must be stated that j. rockefeller went on to become America's all-time richest man by the reason of the cummulative account of the choices he made.