As a French, I must say that we are so much used to this system that it seems obvious. And, French being French, we like to complain about the flaws (well, there are some). But whenever I read this kind of article, I realize that this is not obvious at all and that, in the States, you have to pay for your health like for any groceries.
This is when I understand what people means when they say that France is a socialist country: we have very strong public service. This means that police, fire fighters, healthcare, school and so on are mostly public: we have no militia, prisons have no incentive to get more people jailed by bribing judges, fires are fought without caring if the flat's owner can pay for it, people are being taken care of without delay for checking if there private insurance will accept it, and kids from poor families have a firm chance of getting a good education.
The amusing part is that having this critical services being managed by the state seems so obvious to us that we don't think we are specially socialists (well, the French social party seldom wins the presidential elections). I guess it would seem odd for the government to nationalize a company, but it would be nearly impossible for them to try an privatize a critical public service.
This is when I understand what people means when they say that France is a socialist country: we have very strong public service. This means that police, fire fighters, healthcare, school and so on are mostly public: we have no militia, prisons have no incentive to get more people jailed by bribing judges, fires are fought without caring if the flat's owner can pay for it, people are being taken care of without delay for checking if there private insurance will accept it, and kids from poor families have a firm chance of getting a good education.
The amusing part is that having this critical services being managed by the state seems so obvious to us that we don't think we are specially socialists (well, the French social party seldom wins the presidential elections). I guess it would seem odd for the government to nationalize a company, but it would be nearly impossible for them to try an privatize a critical public service.