by Mahmud Tim Kargbo
Current Bio led โPaopaโ regime revenge actions against northerners can be masquerade as justice, but it frequently ends up perverting it.
The terms revenge and justice often get muddled by dangerous โPaopaโ politicians. And thatโs hardly surprising, for in the course of the โPaopaโ history, theyโve frequently been used interchangeably. You may even be familiar with the phrase โjust revenge.โ Still, as meanings alter and evolve over time, the connotations of these two words have increasingly diverged. Itโs now uncommon to see them used synonymously. And doubtless, revenge has borne the brunt of the various semantic changes that have transpired within the seven months old โPaopaโ regime.
Yet certain overlaps betweenโand ambiguities withinโthe two terms do exist. So before delineating the chief distinctions that can usefully be made to separate them, let me at least hint at what some of these inconsistencies might be.
It would be convenient to advance the claim that justice is fair and revenge is not. But as the words โjust revengeโ suggest, revenge โdepending on its underlying conditions, motivations, and executionโmight be either just or unjust, fair or (frankly) outrageously out of proportion to the alleged wrong originally done. There seems to be an equivocality tightly woven into the term thatโs less perceptible in the related concept of justice. All the same, the well-known phrase โmiscarriage of justiceโ warns us to be careful about distinguishing between concepts that, finally, must be understood as both relative and subjective.
Although I believe that the differences between revenge and justice enumerated below generally hold true, Iโd emphasise that they are generalisations, so youโll probably be able to think of some exceptions. There are instances when revenge can legitimately be understood as a type of justice, and justice a kind of revenge. Moreover, as discrete as Iโve tried to make each of the five categories below, a certain amount of resemblance and repetition has been unavoidable. That is, my โdividing linesโ may at times seem a bit arbitrary. But in any case, here they areโeach concluding with its own set of supporting quotations.
In fact, as a prelude to our discussion, letโs start with two quotes that affirm the idea that revenge and justice ought to be distinguished:
โDo not seek revenge and call it justice.โ โCassandra Clare
โIt is essential that justice be done; it is equally vital that justice not be confused with revenge, for the two are wholly different.โ โOscar Arias
1. Present โPaopaโ revenge is predominantly emotional; justice primarily is rational. Current โPaopaโ revenge is mostly about โacting outโ (typically through violence) markedly negative emotions. At its worst, it expresses a hot, overwhelming desire for bloodshed. As perverse as it may seem, thereโs actual pleasure experienced in causing others to suffer for the alleged hurt theyโve caused the present โPaopaโ avengers, or self-perceived victims.
Justiceโas logically, legally, and ethically definedโisnโt really about โgetting evenโ or experiencing a spiteful joy in retaliation. Instead, itโs about righting a wrong that most members of society (as opposed to simply the alleged victim) would agree is morally culpable. And the presumably unbiased (i.e., unemotional) moral rightness of such justice is based on cultural or community standards of fairness and equity. Whereas current โPaopaโ revenge has a certain selfish quality to it, โcoolโ justice is selfless in that it relies on non-self-interested, established law. At least obliquely, the two quotes below are suggestive:
โBut men often mistake killing and revenge for justice. They seldom have the stomach for justice.โ โRobert Jordan
โSocial justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create.โ โPope John Paul II
2. Current โPaopaโ Revenge is, by nature, personal; justice is impersonal, impartial, and both a social and legal phenomenon. The driving impetus behind current โPaopaโ revenge is to get even, to carry out a private vendetta, or to achieve what, subjectively, might be described as personal justice. If successful, Bio led โPaopaโ perceiving itself as gravely injured (though others might not necessarily agree) experiences considerable gratification: their retaliatory goal they want to achieveโthe northerners side vanquished, or brought to its knees. Just or not, the โPaopaโ avengers feel justified. Their quest for revenge has โre-empoweredโ them and, from their biased viewpoint, itโs something theyโre fully entitled to.
On the other hand, social justice is impersonal. It revolves around moral correction in situations where certain ethical and culturally vital principles have been violated. When justice is successfully meted out, the particular retribution benefits or protects both the individual and societyโwhich can operate effectively only when certain acceptable behavioral guidelines are followed. So, consider:
โRevenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more a man’s nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out.โ โFrancis Bacon
โJustice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.โ โEleanor Roosevelt
โAll calls for justice require that victims feel avenged, and revenge is never just if itโs disproportionate.โ โ Thane Rosenbaum
โPeace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace.โ โMartin Luther
3. Present โPaopaโ revenge is an act of vindictiveness; justice, of vindication.The intense effort by this Bio led โPaopaโ regime to avenge can easily become corrupting, morally reducing the Bio led Paopaโs regime status to that of their alleged perpetrators. Two wrongs do not make a right and (ethically speaking) never can. Degrading another only ends up further degrading oneself. Even if a kind of justice might be served through an act of โPaopaโ revenge, it could still be argued that thereโs nothing particularly admirable or evolved in retaliating against a wrong by committing a โlikeโ wrong. Or (to put it more emphatically) to behave vengefully is, at best, to take the low road to justice.
In opposition, justice is grounded in assumptions, conventions, and doctrines having to do with honour, fairness, and virtue. Its purpose really isnโt vindictive. That is, blood thirstiness has no partโor should have no partโin precepts of justice, at least not in the way the term is presently employed. Itโs based on established law, and its proceedings are designed to dispense to individuals precisely what is deserved: nothing more, and nothing less.
The following quotes allude to some of the dimensions of this core difference:
โThere can be no greater motivator for evil than a huge sense of injustice!โ โBill Ward
โOnly remember this: to seek justice is a good and noble thing, to seek revenge out of hatred is something that will devour your very soul.โ โJames Mace
โIn human history, the desire for revenge and the desire for loot have often been closely associated.โ โJohn McCarthy
4. Present โPaopaโ revenge is about cycles; justice is about closure. The Bio led โPaopaโ regime must understand that revenge has a way of relentlessly repeating itself (as in interminable feuds such as the Corporal Foday Sankoh rebel war)โand ever more maliciously at that. Revenge typically begets more revenge. Whether itโs an individual or an entire nation, it takes place within a closed system that seems able to feed on itself indefinitely. Unlike tic-tac-toe, tit for tat is a game without end. One side gets satisfaction, then the other is driven to get its satisfaction, and thenโฆ theoretically, ad infinitum. There can be no resolution, no compromise. For each faction (say, Israel and Palestine) hasโclan-likeโits own agenda, its own sense of right and wrong. And the righteous rigidity of each side usually demands that some trusted outsider intervene if matters are ever to be settled.
Justice, in contrast, is designed (by individuals or officials generally not linked to the two opposing camps) to offer a resolution far more likely to eventuate in closureโespecially if, in fact, it is just (i.e., equitable). And when justice is done (and I use that word advisedly) so is the conflict that led up to it. Beyond that, punishments for wrongdoing carry an agreed-upon authority lacking in personal vengeful acts, which are calculated solely to โget backโ at the assumed perpetrator. Technically speaking, so-called โvigilante justiceโ isnโt really justice, or social justice, at allโthough at times it may appear to be.Taking matters into oneโs own hands may sometimes seem justified, but it hardly meets the more rigorous criteria for consensual, or community, justice.
Here are some quotes that focus on the problematic lack of closure commonly associated with revenge:
โBut if revenge is called justice, then that justice breeds yet more revengeโฆ and then becomes a chain of hatred.โ โPein Naruto
โIt is unfortunate that in most cases when the sins of the father fall on the son it is becauseโฆ people refuse to forgive and forget and heap past wrongs upon innocent generationsโ [which, I’d add, is anything but just]. โE.A. Bucchianeri
โThose who wish to punish the current and future generations for the inequities of a generation long gone, and who equate justice with revenge, are the most dangerous people in the world.โ โDean Koontz
5. Present โPaopaโ revenge is about retaliation; justice is about restoring balance. The motive of present โPaopaโ revenge has mostly to do with expressing rage, hatred, or spite. Itโs a protest, or payback, and its foremost intent is to harm positive northern opposition . In and of itself, itโs not primarily about justice but about victimsโ affirming their inborn (but non-legal) right to retaliate against some alleged wrong done to them.
And because itโs so impassioned, itโs typically disproportionate to the original injuryโmeaning that it usually canโt be viewed as just. The punishment may fit the crime, but what we are currently experiencing is often an exaggerated response to previous perceived offense. (And I use the qualifier โperceivedโ purposely here. For example take the Kenema and Kono cases of fatal attacks against northerners and the Sierra Leone Police immediately the 2018 March General Elections result was announced. Not only does such an instance exemplify the wrongheadedness sometimes linked to vigilante justice but, as many (if not most) people would agree, failing to prosecute perpetrators of the said attacks represented a serious miscarriage of justiceโespecially in light of the attackers anti-social conduct.
On the contrary, justice is concerned with dispassionately restoring balance through bringing about equalityโor better, equity. It centers on proportion as it equates to fairness. Not driven by emotion, restorative justiceโmeted out by a court of lawโseeks to be as objective and evenhanded as possible. Itโs not, as is so much of revenge, about doing the other side โone betterโ but about equitablyโor properlyโpunishing wrongdoing. In fact, the ancient โlaw of the โtalionโโ (an ethical standard originating in Babylonian law and present as well in the Bible and early Roman law) focuses on what is commonly known (but, hopefully, only metaphorically!) as the โeye for an eyeโ conception of justice. In brief, the kind or magnitude of justice meted out is contrived to โcorrespondโ as exactly as possible to the gravity of the original injury. And the group of quotes below should further illustrate this final distinction between revenge and justice:
โChristian ethics demand that you should not take revenge. The paradox is, naturally, that Christians worship a God who is the greatest avenger of them all. Defy him and you burn in eternal hell, an act of revenge which is completely out of proportion to the crime.โ โJo Nesbรธ
โGod was never what we would call a proportionalist. God goes postal a lot, which is what human societies wonโt let their people do.โ โWilliam Ian Miller
โSomeone wrongs us, we rarely (if ever) want to do the same thing back. Why? Because we want to do something more harmful. Likewise, when someone insults us, our instinct is to search for words that will be more insulting. Revenge always escalates.โ โRob Bell
[And lastly] โA society built upon a foundation of vengeance is a society doomed to destroy itself.โ โRichelle E. Goodrich
