An eye for an eye is the ban on punishments that exceed the crime, which was normal previously and remains so in many parts of the world. The religiously inclined might want to ask themselves what that piece of advice equates to in a less hot-blooded world.
Thing is, it doesn’t solve squat to go medieval on people. The deterrent effect is marginal at best. The implications for the inevitability of punishing some innocent sob for something an actual turd did are staggering. The cost to law enforcement and bystanders of telling the guilty party they’ve nothing to lose by going down guns blazing with no regard for anyone else are enormous. And it doesn’t undo the harm done, nor give any but the least worthy of us any real measure of added closure or lessening of the burden. It just heaps another bestial act atop one already beastial enough, and justifies violence as a means to purge difficult emotions in the minds of the masses from which the next turd will emerge.
It’s a satisfying release of the rage you feel, but it’s a shitty way to run a society, period. I dare say the jury is in on that, historically and statistically. It’s a bad idea, regardless of whether it is right or wrong.
Scandinavia has the softest on crime laws and penal system you can find, and the lowest recidivism rates as a result, which is why we have the fewest victims of violent crimes around, even after we imported tons of migrants who share your pro-violence stance on catharsis. We could go even softer and probably spend less money and have better results, except there’s too many people who want a bit of righteous violence to balm their pains at the cost of future victims.
People generally do this shit for a few reasons: fear, anger, desire, necessity (perceived or real), convenience, gain or illness. If you want to reduce the problem, reduce the root causes.
Choosing to have these things happen just so we can indulge in revenge is not helpful to all the past and future victims.
Limiting future crimes is quite helpful, however, and easy to do.
It’s just hard to stomach.
I hear you on that. I feel the same urge to smash this guy up as you do. But I have the stomach to do what actually works in a society, instead of what caters to my short term emotional needs. We have the evidence on that point. There is a way that works and a way that feels good. Africa and the Middle East strongly favor the way that feels good. Asia and the US are in the middle. The European countries, especially the Scandinavian ones, favor the way that works. Ponder the crime rates and quality of life for the common man in the regions I mentioned. The way forward is clear.
It’s also damn hard, but the good citizen thing to do when faced with something hard is to roll up your sleeve. We have words for those who go the easy way instead, and those words crop up in here frequently, usually not with a positive connotation.
God! That's 2 minutes of my life just wasted