> In betting on outcomes, there are two roles - bet (“long”) and lay (“short”). I have no interest in the Humpty Dumpty principle of word usage. My point was n

> In betting on outcomes, there are two roles - bet (“long”) and lay (“short”). I have no interest in the Humpty Dumpty principle of word usage. My point was not about the names we use for things, but about the things themselves. You can't make what has been called "gambling" in the discussion up to now the same thing as what has been called "insurance" in the discussion up to now by changing the words you use to describe them. > You’re saying that because these are morally different I have said nothing whatever about the relative morality of gambling vs. insurance. I have only pointed out that they are not the same thing, they are opposites--gambling is taking on risk, insurance is transferring it.