I'm aware :) I spent a non-trivial amount of time reading said scholarship,
as part of when I was looking at old Germanic law codes and their very
monetary ways of attempting the same balance and social organization. (As
well as other models).
However my point is that no punishment is actually balanced: because of
how people are interconnected, if you put a theif in jail or confiscate his
property you are affecting anyone connected to him - family, friends,
people who have no responsibility for the theft. Sometimes it's a huge
effect; sometimes it's just inconvenience, like a boss needing to find a
new employee. But either way, it's still imbalanced.
And if the person is so disconnected, then it's most likely because of life
experiences that indicate they've already been runt targets of injustice.
So justice is already irreparably unbalanced.
That it's better than blood feud is certainly true! As well as all the
other things. My point is not "this is a bad society/immoral way of doing
things" - my point is the second that wrongdoing occurs justice is
terminally wounded and there's no way to actually "balance" it. Not that
you shouldn't: you CAN'T. It's not possible. You just keep moving the
injustice down the line.
And likewise LACK of punishment isn't just either, which is the point: if
you unconditionally forgive everyone without process you inflict injustice
on both past and present victims.
Re: (aside)
I'm aware :) I spent a non-trivial amount of time reading said scholarship, as part of when I was looking at old Germanic law codes and their very monetary ways of attempting the same balance and social organization. (As well as other models).
However my point is that no punishment is actually balanced: because of how people are interconnected, if you put a theif in jail or confiscate his property you are affecting anyone connected to him - family, friends, people who have no responsibility for the theft. Sometimes it's a huge effect; sometimes it's just inconvenience, like a boss needing to find a new employee. But either way, it's still imbalanced.
And if the person is so disconnected, then it's most likely because of life experiences that indicate they've already been runt targets of injustice. So justice is already irreparably unbalanced.
That it's better than blood feud is certainly true! As well as all the other things. My point is not "this is a bad society/immoral way of doing things" - my point is the second that wrongdoing occurs justice is terminally wounded and there's no way to actually "balance" it. Not that you shouldn't: you CAN'T. It's not possible. You just keep moving the injustice down the line.
And likewise LACK of punishment isn't just either, which is the point: if you unconditionally forgive everyone without process you inflict injustice on both past and present victims.