The hand licking incident brought it home to me in a big way that, yea, verily, it's better to stand there dumbly and just watch it burn while trying to think of something better to do, even though that is extraordinarily stressful and can feel like the worst possible solution. When there is a crisis, it often feels like you should do Something! Anything!
Maybe. But sometimes you should do Anything -- except that. Anything but that. So it reinforced my resolve to stand my ground when adults around me were haranguing me to do things I knew would not work and would, in fact, be counterproductive.
The response that lots of people don’t see a problem with it is hard to interpret charitably in that context.
I've not yet argued a position here; only pointed out that spanking is the norm on planet earth.
For what it's worth, I was spanked (IMO responsibly, not abusively) as a child but I do not spank my own child.
Parenting is hard. People try their best. I'm grateful to my parents for raising me the best way they knew how.