Criminal behavior is all sourced by the same demons that haunt all of humanity. As Clive Barker said, all who do evil are suffering.
The process has been generally and philosophically understood for recorded history, the only thing that changes is how it is stated and what is done as a result. All humans have needs, and if those needs are not met we turn into the most frightening predator we have yet seen. A predator that will pursue those needs with ruthless and fearless determination that knows no pain or death. A predator that delights in the utter annihilation and torment of whatever we perceive to be standing in the way of our fulfillment of that need.
But, we also have a near infinite capacity for compassion, forgiveness, and change. The need for revenge is a relic from our primordial past, a way to cohere a group through tough times that cannot be controlled.
As Nicole Kidman said in the interpreter, vengeance is a lazy form of grief.
What that means is that in being wronged we have lost something. Something that can never come back. Figuratively if not literally something dear to us has died. And rather than face the grim reality of the fact that it is gone and there is nothing we can do to erase that act we think we can control the situation from the other end.
We think we can inflict suffering that we perceive to be equal on those that have wronged us and that is justice. But in the end, once our vengeance is satisfied, as rarely as that occurs, we still must face our grief.
In a classic impact bias we think that once we’ve had our fill of torture porn, our righteous indignation, our base animal needs indulged with a guilt free excuse, our bloodlust sated, the pain will be removed, or seriously lessened. But this is wrong.
What actually happens is that our grief was always there, waiting like a patient vulture until only it remained. Indulging in vengeance is like taking heroin for a bullet wound. Sure you feel better for a time, but the wound is there, waiting. Perhaps even killing you.
The real solution is to prevent future pain, and not in some brutal torturous show. There is no deterrent but prevention and obviation. Vengeance never saved lives, it always takes them. Granted killing a killer can be the best action to take but by definition we will never know. In not knowing the future we never know if this was his last kill after he goes on to cure cancer.
Once the harm stops, once you are safe to indulge in vengeance. That is the time to grieve, and make peace with your loss. Once that is done you can approach they or it who wronged you in strategic way, and save our children from the same pain in the future.
The best option is to understand why the thing happened and work to remove that reason from society for all time.
And that is what I have done. And that is what I am doing.
thought provoking
gives one pause