Neutral wire and ground wire are NOT - repeat NOT - the same. Yes
they both meet a common bus in breaker box. But it is wrong and it is
dangerous to advocate safety ground and neutral as same. Wire is not a
perfect conductor. Electrically speaking, there is always a difference
between both ends of a wire. Neutral (white) wire and safety ground
wire may be electrically same at breaker box end BUT are electrically
different at wall receptacle.

George E. Cawthon wrote:

Another term for the neutral wire is "ground." The
neutral(ground) is bonded to the green wire at the box. The
green wire in older stuff (maybe still) is called the
"grounding" wire.