I'm inspired to make this post by another post on TRP. This other post is linked in the body below. It claims that revenge is futile at best and a terrible idea at worst, so we should drop it and move on. I'm making this post as a reminder that you can get revenge on those you despise. The Red Pill isn't bitter, just tangy.

Summary

Losing sucks. It can happen to anyone, no matter how hard you work or how thoroughly you plan. No matter what defenses you put up, someone will find a weakness and, as is the nature of weaknesses, the weakness will be exploited. Your excellent judge of character will someday betray you and you will be robbed by who you thought to be a good person. You can work your tail off only to have some lazy chump keep you down because he's in high places and you're not. Everything you've built can be destroyed on a whim because of unjust laws written by corrupt officials and enforced by dastardly psychopaths. Getting revenge will probably ruin you because of the repercussions, but there is still a way to get back at the villains in your life while having little effect on your life.

About Loss

Loss is maddening, but there is more than one way to "lose" something. Say it's $80. You could lose this $80 because a dumb kid decided to light it on fire for fun. You could also lose it by lending it to an acquaintance who then cuts ties and avoids you.

The kid clearly had no understanding of money and made a mistake that he could learn and improve from. You can be angry about losing the $80, but holding a grudge against the child doesn't make sense.

The acquaintance, however, outright betrayed your trust and took what was rightfully yours. He knew what he was doing. A grudge is more understandable here.

Another Example

Let's say you lose an eye. You could lose it by throwing pencils at the ceiling to try and make them stick only to have one come back down point-first onto your iris, rendering it blind. You could also lose it to a psycho mutual friend who overreacted to something you said. Sure, this psycho likely "paid" for handicapping you by doing time in jail and paying a fine, but maybe he got off easy. Maybe the court decided that you provoked him and didn't charge heavily. In either case, you just lost a bloody eye. No amount of jail time on his part will change the fact that he's a piece of shit for irrevocably taking away the experiences of a life in which you have both eyes. That's heavy.

The kid burned $80, no grudge. Your ex-friend stole $80, grudge. You poked your own eye out, no grudge. Some asshole poked your eye out, grudge. Why? That's the other half of why this kind loss is so enraging: losing something is bad, but to have the bastard that wronged you walk free while you get fucked over is rage in raw form. Imagine the face of the human being that wronged you. Imagine the smug, striking countenance of the disgusting scumbag who's the reason your life isn't as good as it should be. Imagine this person smiling, living a happy life as if you were never wronged at all. That's rage incarnate: seeing our enemies prosper even though they're responsible for our loss. We don't want our enemies to succeed; we're angry at them. We want them to hurt like they hurt us. We're angry that they're happy. We're angry that they got the last laugh.

However

It's not the kid you're angry at so much as the untrustworthy "friend" from the first example. Maybe you're angry with yourself for getting your eye poked out, but it's the impulsive freak show that flew off the handle over nothing that really messed up. The thief and the lunatic got the last laugh. The kid didn't get a laugh. Sure, he enjoyed burning paper but he wouldn't have done it if he only knew it would hurt you. The conniving friend? He knew stealing money from you would hurt you but did it anyway. You didn't get last laugh when you destroyed your eye. That asshole who destroyed your eye, however, hurt you big-time and got away with it. That's what last laugh is: deliberate crime, no punishment.

You shouldn't go to jail for revenge. That's not last laugh, because there was a punishment. Your target will just laugh at that, and that's not how it's done. OP from here will tell you many valuable truths about how revenge will almost certainly lead to worsening your life. I agree with him up to the final point: "Yes, you got fucked over, no, it wasn't fair, and yes, she's a fucking bitch. That's it - that's as much satisfaction as the world is ever going to give to you. So get over it.".

Hell no, don't get over it. I have a solution that won't worsen your life and will still get you the last laugh you're so entitled to. Let's say you're 20 and you go out and get revenge on some asshole. He gets fucked, but then you get fucked because that's what happens when you try to get revenge. You're 20 and you just got attempted murder on your record and served decades in a high-security prison. That's not revenge; that's like a small suicide. What if you're 30 and you do it? Well, you lived your 20s in relative peace and prosperity but then got locked up and screwed. Thirty isn't ideal, either. Wait longer. 40? Come on, you're still just getting started. 50? 60? Beyond? What's the difference between a 20-year-old getting capital punishment and an 80-year-old receiving capital punishment? One of them lived 60 extra years of precious, valuable life than the other, that's what.

What to do

So don't get revenge when you're 20. Hell, don't do it if you feel you'll be alive for too much longer. Don't throw away too many unlived years. Thing is, you'll eventually die. You don't have infinity years. Your mortality is a curse, but there is a gift it can give you. Try and have a sense of when you'll die of natural causes. What does your body say? Are you old? Have you had enough? Are you okay with dying soon? If the answers are yes, then you don't have too many unlived years, do you? You don't have anything to lose; nothing to take away. Nothing anyone can punish you with.

Keep tabs on those that wrong you. Learn what you can and, someday, you can enact the most brutal, debilitating, inhuman revenge imaginable on them, their loved ones, and whoever else you want. After all, the wicked aren't punished. All you have to do is look both ways before you cross the street (so that you die of natural, foreseeable causes), take care of yourself (to keep your physical body ready for the heinous revenge you plan on acting out), and have no fear in your last days. Remember, you'll die regardless of whether you get revenge. May as well get revenge, but you may as well live a full life first.