That's a straw man argument my dude, tickling for manslaughter. What exactly are we talking about in this argument, because I'll agree it's not semantics.
Just because it doesn't meet your metric for a fitting punishment, doesn't mean it's not a punishment. That's the crux of my argument, which I think is getting ignored here.
That's not even remotely equivalent. Theft usually involves forfeiting whatever you stole, so by paying for what was stolen and not keeping it, you're paying something for nothing. That's a punishment, whether or not it meets your metric for a fitting punishment. Paying for damages is also a punishment. You don't get to keep the car you bashed up.
