Theory of the mechanics of karma

Everyone has heard the phrase “what you do will come back to you”.
Many people think karma is a mystical power waiting to take us down, or the transient anomoly suspending our well earned gifts seemingly indefininatly. Karma i believe is a construct of the human unconcious.
We allow ourselves what we feel we deserve and deprive ourselves what we feel we our undeserving of. Look at the way you might reward or punish yourself. We all do it. We all know we are doing it. But we still describe karma as though it were some mystical phenomenon.
Why dont people seem to see the connection?

I think before carrying this topic further, you need to establish the definitive line between karma and dharma and what actions consequent each.
Karma is the idea of building up points to get yourself borne into a wealthy male as opposed to some downtrodden prostitute. Karma the ladder of reincarnation that will eventually allow you to shed human flesh and enter a world above and beyond the one we are now aware of.
Dharma, on the other hand, deals with consequences suffered in THIS lifetime. It’s viewing good “luck” as the result of high moral standing and bad “luck” as the punishment for past transgressions.
Karma isnt so disimilar from a Christian understanding that your actions in the present decide your resting place in the afterlife (though Hinduism seems to be more forgiving, with a “if at first you don’t succeed…” attitude). Dharma opposes Judeo-Christian thought in that whereas Christians tend to believe that suffering on earth leads to peace in the hereafter, dharma explains that if you weren’t so prone to moral error, you wouldn’t be suffering in the first place.
At this juncture, I’ve totally lost sight of what my point was, so I’ll just shut-up. Oh, wait, I remember. I was thinking that, by your definition, it is this deprivation that some people cling to as a means of salvation. In the sight of Karma, perhaps they see this punishment as atonement. But in the case of dharma, the real concept of “what goes around, comes around,” in that case, you should never punish or reward yourself because it would never be made available or attainable if you weren’t meant ot have it. A belief in dharma should erase subconscious tendencies to reward/punish cause establshign either is not within your power.