Adam Smith. Communist

[Sava]

The "free market" only exists in the minds of market extremists. It's a fantasy just like communism. The real world doesn't work that way.

[Dauphin]

If you want to complain about misuse of a word when it is actually correctly applied in the common parlance, I think you need to reconsider the complaint.

[Felch]

If you want to complain about misuse of a word when it is actually correctly applied in the common parlance, I think you need to reconsider the complaint.

I think you're right. But when I complain about misuse of a word that is incorrectly applied, I feel no reason to reconsider.

Free dictionary's definition

1. A fixed portion, especially an amount of food allotted to persons in military service or to civilians in times of scarcity.
2. rations Food issued or available to members of a group.
tr.v. ra·tioned, ra·tion·ing, ra·tions
1. To supply with rations.
2. To distribute as rations: rationed out flour and sugar. See Synonyms at distribute.
3. To restrict to limited allotments, as during wartime.

Merriam-Webster's definition

ra·tion noun \ˈra-shən, ˈrā-\
: a particular amount of food that is given to one person or animal for one day

rations : food or supplies

: a particular amount of something (such as gasoline or food) that the government allows you to have when there is not enough of it

ration transitive verb
: to control the amount of (something, such as gasoline or food) that people are allowed to have especially when there is not enough of it

[Jaguar]

It's only very recently that poor people became stupid enough to think some form of socialism is automatically a bad thing.

Tell me more about how you're such a conservative.

If you're a conservative, I'm a ****ing reticulated giraffe.

[Felch]

To be very clear, I do not need to bring a ration book to the hospital before I am admitted. If I were trying to buy sugar or tires in 1943, I'd have needed approval from the government. Sugar and tires were rationed. Health care is not. Broadening the word "rationing" to refer to any and all distribution schemes dilutes the meaning of the word, and contributes to lazy thinking. If you want to play Humpty Dumpty, leave me out of it. If words mean nothing to you, then nothing you say means anything.

[Kuciwalker]

Tell me more about how you're such a conservative.

If you're a conservative, I'm a ****ing reticulated giraffe.

I've met Jaguar and I can confirm that he is a Panthera onca and not any form of giraffe (reticulated or not).

[Sava]

jaguare

[Dauphin]

To be very clear, I do not need to bring a ration book to the hospital before I am admitted. If I were trying to buy sugar or tires in 1943, I'd have needed approval from the government. Sugar and tires were rationed. Health care is not. Broadening the word "rationing" to refer to any and all distribution schemes dilutes the meaning of the word, and contributes to lazy thinking. If you want to play Humpty Dumpty, leave me out of it. If words mean nothing to you, then nothing you say means anything.

I'm sorry you feel the need to complain when a word can have more meanings than you think it means. Language evolves. I think the American use of the word "liberal" is incorrect usage (similarly phrases like "hold down the fort", or "could care less" are wrong to my ear), but I don't complain, I just accept that it has a different meaning to how I would use the term.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Tell me more about how you're such a conservative.

If you're a conservative, I'm a ****ing reticulated giraffe.

Do you consider the NHS to be socialism? Because Tory PM David Cameron called it a "great national treasure".

[Felch]

Of course you do, you just ration it based on wealth rather than by need.

I'm sorry you feel the need to complain when a word can have more meanings than you think it means. Language evolves. I think the American use of the word "liberal" is incorrect usage (similarly phrases like "hold down the fort", or "could care less" are wrong to my ear), but I don't complain, I just accept that it has a different meaning to how I would use the term.

If in Britain the word ration has evolved to mean "sell," then I am mistaken. Although, if we're to believe Wikipedia, it seems that rationing in the United Kingdom means exactly what I thought it meant.

[Elok]

I've never been to Europe, so I can't comment on their healthcare. But I was deeply impressed by Peru's healthcare every time I had to deal with it, and considering the wealth of the country relative to the U.S., that's pretty sad. I cut my head on a rusty sign once (a safety sign, ironically, just posted too low for dumb tall gringos who don't look where they're going) and everyone nearby insisted on calling an ambulance. I was horrified at the thought, but they insisted and somebody called one in. It arrived within three minutes of the call, they dressed me up, and I was out on the street again before fifteen minutes had passed, free of charge. In America, it would have taken much longer, and I'd have paid something like five hundred bucks, minimum. Maybe it's all paid for by exorbitant taxes--of the still-pretty-tiny subset of the population that has real wealth, presumptively--but there's still something to be said for their way of doing things.

[Sava]

I've never been to Europe, so I can't comment on their healthcare. But I was deeply impressed by Peru's healthcare every time I had to deal with it, and considering the wealth of the country relative to the U.S., that's pretty sad. I cut my head on a rusty sign once (a safety sign, ironically, just posted too low for dumb tall gringos who don't look where they're going) and everyone nearby insisted on calling an ambulance. I was horrified at the thought, but they insisted and somebody called one in. It arrived within three minutes of the call, they dressed me up, and I was out on the street again before fifteen minutes had passed, free of charge. In America, it would have taken much longer, and I'd have paid something like five hundred bucks, minimum. Maybe it's all paid for by exorbitant taxes--of the still-pretty-tiny subset of the population that has real wealth, presumptively--but there's still something to be said for their way of doing things.

It's because collectivism can't be escaped. We already live in a socialized society. Every human society that has ever existed is socialized. It just depends upon how decisions are made and how resources are allocated. Instead of cost-effective measures like preventative care, people without health care coverage are forced to go to the emergency room. When they can't pay, the cost gets put onto everyone else. It's the hospitals' business model.

But right wing idiots want to ignore that so we can have a system that fits into their idiotic notions of "personal responsibility".

[Felch]

The American health care system is an absolute mess.

[Sava]

The American health care system is an absolute mess.

Yes. But for probably none of the reasons you think.

But feel free to surprise me.

[Dauphin]

If in Britain the word ration has evolved to mean "sell," then I am mistaken. Although, if we're to believe Wikipedia, it seems that rationing in the United Kingdom means exactly what I thought it meant.

We can play the 'lets quote websites' game if you like. Or I can give you a lmgtfy link. Price rationing is a term in common usage.