I was reading this article about bringing one of those responsible for murdering 3 civil rights workers in 1964 to court. This quote struck me, from one of the mothers of the murdered:

“I’m not looking for revenge. I’m looking for justice,” she told the AP.

and don’t get me wrong, this type of crime needs to be punished, but my question goes beyond this actual case: what is the difference between revenge and justice?

These definitions were gotten from Webster Online Dictionary(I know it’s not the OED, but they don’t have theirs online):

revenge
Main Entry: 1re·venge
Pronunciation: ri-’venj
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): re·venged; re·veng·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French revengier, from Old French, from re- + vengier to avenge — more at VENGEANCE
1 : to avenge (as oneself) usually by retaliating in kind or degree
2 : to inflict injury in return for
- re·veng·er noun

justice
Main Entry: jus·tice
Pronunciation: ‘j&s-t&s
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English & Old French; Old English justice, from Old French justice, from Latin justitia, from justus
1 a : the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments b : JUDGE c : the administration of law; especially : the establishment or determination of rights according to the rules of law or equity
2 a : the quality of being just, impartial, or fair b (1) : the principle or ideal of just dealing or right action (2) : conformity to this principle or ideal : RIGHTEOUSNESS c : the quality of conforming to law
3 : conformity to truth, fact, or reason : CORRECTNESS

so apparently, the difference between the two is the degree of punishment. Justice is impartial(HAHAHAHA!!!!) in meting out punishment, where revenge seeks repayment in kind.

Is this at all realistic with how the world works?

Last day of Kamran living at my house. Well, more or less. he is probably not really living here today, as he is moving out. he is returning to the dorms, like, well….I was going to give a really mean analogy, but I’ll pass it up.

Kamran has lived here just a bit over a year, and has, without a doubt, been one of the best roommates I’ve had. Never a complaint about my mess making, nor about the cat, nor about the occasional party.

And of course, on this day, I’ll be sleeping through it. It seems that over the last 4 years of living here, the roommates have moved out on the weekend which I work nights. That is an odd coincidence.

So…to tally up everyone I’ve lived with since moving out of the ‘rents house: Shane, Kuha, Travis, Keith, Mark, Lee, Dan, and Kamran. Oh, and let’s not forget the cat. I’ve got to say, most of those people were good to live with…I only had to kick two of them out, one for personal reasons and one for not paying the bills.

In closing: Kamran, it has been a blast. You’re always welcome to stop by if you need a break from the ’studying’ you’ll be doing in the dorms, and want to have a beer or a game o’ super mario bros.