In a simplistic world, I agree as long as the response is proportional and the other actor is rational. My preferred strategy to deal with unwanted behaviour is usually 'swift proportional reprisal followed by forgiveness'. However I don't think you can apply this nilly-willy in the real world. There's a bunch of nuance at play, and the other actors are usually not very rational, and not every fight is worth the cost of fighting it. And also, none of this works if you don't _forgive_ the other side. "An eye for an eye" is a crap strategy.