[wildmusings]

And what's so wrong with retribution? If you cause suffering to another during their short and precious time on this world, why should you not be made to suffer as well?

This desire for retribution is a central part of the human psyche. As we have done for our other wild drives, we have tamed it with process and institutions, but we should not deny our moral intuitions. If you reject the legitimacy of moral intuition, then you'd have a hard time justifying why blackmail should be illegal, for example.