Lightness in the Dark

After listening to some debate regarding "karma" I have come to the conclusion that we begin life with a clean slate.

First of all, a disclaimer. There is no god. No reincarnation. Now, if there were gods, if reincarnation was a fact, would those gods not want us to get our lives started on the best possible footing? Why burden us with punishment for past crimes without the definite knowledge that we were carrying that burden? Why punish a baby with a brutal life and death if the consciousness of the past wrongs cannot be present? Would the gods spank us without telling us why?

If we are really good do we get reincarnated as a higher level being such as a rose or a cockroach?