Is Pay Back ever Justified?

I don't think so. Of course there are a million justifications for it. I still don't think it's right. I guess that's because I believe in Karma. If they do me wrong, they WILL get what's coming to them. It doesn't have to be from me. "Needing" or wanting to see it come to payback is childish.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to rectify a bad situation that someone else created for you, but that doesn't mean an eye for an eye to me. If someone hurt my name, I would want to clear it up. I shouldn't want to soil theirs on top of it, though.

Carole- the question was is it ever justified? How could anyone say no to that? Say someone harms my child for example. It may be wrong to retaliate, but surely I would consider it justified. I do agree with you though.

I guess I have to say no, but hey, not like I'm not guilty of it, too.

Okay I admit it, I'm guilty of the "an eye for a papercut" variety. But then again, I don't exactly lash out at people who don't deserve it. Just sometimes they don't deserve it at that specific moment. And if someone harmed my child (who won't exist for a couple of years at least, I'm predicting) or my little sister (who has existed for 7 years) I would do a little more than an eye's damage.

Carole said:

I don't think so. Of course there are a million justifications for it. I still don't think it's right. I guess that's because I believe in Karma. If they do me wrong, they WILL get what's coming to them. It doesn't have to be from me. "Needing" or wanting to see it come to payback is childish.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to rectify a bad situation that someone else created for you, but that doesn't mean an eye for an eye to me. If someone hurt my name, I would want to clear it up. I shouldn't want to soil theirs on top of it, though.

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That's taking the high road, which isn't always that easy to do. In a perfect world, yes.

Absolutely! If someone hurts my child, you can bet I'll be taking matters into my own hands. And conside it justified. Heck, when someone hurts me, depending on the situation, I feel completely justified in getting even. Whether that hurt is physical or emotional.

But that's just me.

FatTire said:

I'm talking an eye for eye here. If somebody does you, or somebody that you care about wrong, is it okay for some pay back? Nothing illegal or anything.

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After one takes a cooling off period of no less than 48 hours after a certain incident and this said one always uses common sense and extreme restraint when dealing with the offending Human Being animals on the planet, I think it's fair to say that in certain situations it is okay for payback.

Nothing illegal or anything.

Maybe just something similar to the end of In the Bedroom or what happened to Joe Pesci and his brother in Casino.

Sure payback is justified--it's just that I'm not justified in doing it .

My gut feeling is no. We'd all like to think we operate with our superego, but emotions are a powerful thing. They can take over you and make a rational person do what some would call irrational things.

I'm of the mind, though, that we can't really say something is ever justified or unjustified until we've walked in the person' shoes.

As soothing as revenge may be, I believe in Payback more as an instrument of behavioral modification in the hopes of making the world a better place for your fellow human.

A bully is picking on someone.

You punch him in the face.

Hopefully, he stops picking on people because he's learned a very valuable lesson.

Someone cuts you off in traffic and almost kills your family. You run him off the road, take your son's little league bat from the trunk and destroy his car headlight to headlight.

Hopefully, he drives more cautiously in the future and you save that next family that might not have been as lucky as yours was to avoid the maniac.

Thank you.

I wear a button that says "We should forgive our enemies, but only after they've been taken out and shot."

'Nuff said?

BardSkye said:

I wear a button that says "We should forgive our enemies, but only after they've been taken out and shot."

'Nuff said?

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Absolutely.

Where can I get one?

Send one of those buttons my way as well. Great!

I truly believe that Ghandi was correct when he said "An eye for an eye makes the world blind." I also believe strongly in karma, meaning that things will balance out without my interference. That being said, I think that in some situations, one's personal mental stability rests on seeking retribution. It might not be the most intelligent or responsible decision, but sometimes it does feel damn good.

I'd like one of those buttons, too!

I've had that button for about 20 years and don't remember where it came from. Flea market, I think.

It's probably in the public domain by now.

I only found a keychain.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000HLGO2K.01-A2Y624Y5TXKSKI._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V61795368_.jpg

It is if its a movie with Mel Gibson

CBeasy said:

I truly believe that Ghandi was correct when he said "An eye for an eye makes the world blind." I also believe strongly in karma, meaning that things will balance out without my interference. That being said, I think that in some situations, one's personal mental stability rests on seeking retribution. It might not be the most intelligent or responsible decision, but sometimes it does feel damn good.

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I think it could fall very flat too. When we seek revenge -- although understandable -- we make ourselves as bad as the wrongdoer. It's also giving them power in our lives that they shouldn't have. As ye sow, so shall ye reap. It's already taken care of by the forces of the universe.

Payback is wrong, but with some of the horrendous cases I've heard on television, I sometimes think payback would or should be justified.

Oh my yes. My justification for payback is "Satisfaction". There's nothing better than the sense of completion you get when you kick the living sh!t out of someone to even the score.

Do I really feel this way? ...Not for the most part. But I still do it.

Sometimes, we must be karma's agent.

That's all I'm saying.

BottomlessCup said:

Sometimes, we must be karma's agent.

That's all I'm saying.

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"We all work for the big man upstairs."
Shecky Greene
1958
Kutchers Resort, the Catskills

CBeasy said:

I truly believe that Ghandi was correct when he said "An eye for an eye makes the world blind."

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An AWESOME, BRILLIANT statement, but ludicrously(or however it's spelled) incorrect.

Sounds nice, but luckily, the majority of the time, things happen and then end.

A bully beats someone up and then you beat the bully up and he learns his lesson and it ends. It doesn't keep going.

For every Israel/Palestine you have a thousand payback situations that don't go any further. Japan attacked us. We ...uh...let's say....returned the favor in a big way. Now, we're best of friends.

"Life ain't a game of dominos."
Mohatma Thrilly
1947

i think payback is justified, yeah. but, the way i see it, it keeps goin' 'round and 'round. it doesn't end.

some guy hits me, i hit him back, his big brother hits me back, my big brother hits him and his big brother. it just keeps going. violence begets violence, you know?

the way i've seen it so far, what goes around comes around. karma or whatever it might be. but sometimes you don't think, and you get revenge. maybe the world considers that wrong, and karma sorts you out for getting revenge.

i think it's definitely justified. but it doesn't always work out for you in the end. but in some situations, it's almost necessary.

i don't know man, you do what you gotta do. if somebody hurts my kid, i'd would want payback, and i deserve it. problem is, that payback might cause more hurt to my kid..

you do what you gotta do..