"Broken" is always with respect to some function that we're expecting an object to perform. We expect a hammer to be able to drive nails into wood; if it can't

"Broken" is always with respect to some function that we're expecting an object to perform. We expect a hammer to be able to drive nails into wood; if it can't do that, we say it's broken. A person has no intrinsic function, so we can't say that they're broken. It would be more accurate to say the system placing that expectation on them is broken, or at least in need of improvement. The example of socialized healthcare is given elsewhere in this thread. The line of thinking is, well, some people are just too much of a burden on the healthcare system, so we (sadly) have to let them suffer or die in order to keep the system working for everyone else. But the broken object in this case is not the people, but the healthcare system itself. The system is too weak to care for everyone. Maybe it's not possible to build a system that's strong enough, but the blame should rest on the system (which actually has the potential to be fixed), not on the people (who should not need "fixing" in order to be cared for).