France vs. USA

[Buddy]

"Although France has socialized medicine which is absolutely crucial for a moral and humane society, I'd still prefer living in the USA;"

As long as you don't want to actually access said health care. Then folks (who can afford it) come to the US (Canadians especially). You can easily die waiting for health care with communist medicine. Unless you're Politburo with a dacha.

And BTW, who said universal medicine is "absolutely crucial"? The entire world did without it before the end of last century and civilization seems to have worked just fine, thank you.

Kiss French, Drink California!

[bigphatwong]

I got to visit Paris for about three days when I was 13. All I remember is that it was hot and humid as hell, the TP was like sandpaper, and the women had hairy pits. There were also a bunch of couples making out in the fountain in front of the Louvre, which is all good if you're into the public thing (I'd assume full-out porking would still be illegal). Got caught in an electrical storm, that was kinda cool, but on the whole I wasn't terribly impressed. Would I go back? Probably not.

Now, Rotterdam or the Hague on the other hand....

[Michael]

Driving on the highway in the USA is awesome. Endless roads and beautiful sites to see, total freedom, which may have passed since skyrocketing gas, more toll roads, and checkpoints. Haven't driven outside the USA except for Canada, but I'd be curious to know how France compares.

[juz]

Driving on the highway in the USA is awesome. Endless roads and beautiful sites to see, total freedom, which may have passed since skyrocketing gas, more toll roads, and checkpoints. Haven't driven outside the USA except for Canada, but I'd be curious to know how France compares.

1 problem---french drivers...

I drove round the Arc de Triomphe back in 93...next time I'll wear a helmet...

sheer total lunacy...

edit...I'll elaborate...imagine the biggest the roundabout you've ever driven, albeit with a cobbly road surface over 150 years old, no lines, no demarctions, no filtering, no giving way, no priority . Add double figure entrances to the above and drivers that don't care...

[Bär]

Yeah Paris is insane but the highways of France (& all of Europe) are sweet for road tripping, barring traffic jams. Not like the US for vastness & emptness, though.

[Darthwing Teorist]

Driving on the highway in the USA is awesome. Endless roads and beautiful sites to see, total freedom, which may have passed since skyrocketing gas, more toll roads, and checkpoints. Haven't driven outside the USA except for Canada, but I'd be curious to know how France compares.

1 problem---french drivers...

I drove round the Arc de Triomphe back in 93...next time I'll wear a helmet...

sheer total lunacy...

edit...I'll elaborate...imagine the biggest the roundabout you've ever driven, albeit with a cobbly road surface over 150 years old, no lines, no demarctions, no filtering, no giving way, no priority . Add double figure entrances to the above and drivers that don't care...

My boss is French. He's quick on the horn.

[Buddy]

quick on the horn...is that a euphemism?

[Darthwing Teorist]

quick on the horn...is that a euphemism?

No, not that I know. He's literally willing to honk any slowpoke in front of him. He's quite a character, very funny guy.

[.Q.]

Driving on the highway in the USA is awesome. Endless roads and beautiful sites to see, total freedom, which may have passed since skyrocketing gas, more toll roads, and checkpoints. Haven't driven outside the USA except for Canada, but I'd be curious to know how France compares.

Hmm... seems to depend on where in the US. I seem to recall only hours of traffic and drivers that speed up to cut you whenever you signal. Still a hundred (thousand?) times better than Taiwan though.

[edededed]

Asian drivers suck (the only exception: Japan).

[nianfong]

ahem
http://olympicgames2008medaltally.blogs ... 4x100.html

so... I guess I should be saying something like....

HOW YOU LIKE ME NOW?! HUH?
HOW YOU LIKE ME NOW?!?!?


(in response to france's smack talk: http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Olym ... 8620080807)
http://olympics.fanhouse.com/2008/08/11 ... france-up/

[Michael]

Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but there are French parts of Canada and the USA. Some of the prettiest girls in the world are from Montreal.

[Darthwing Teorist]

Fong seems to forget a powerful argument in France's favor:

http://www.alizee-fanpage.com/

[Iskendar]

"Although France has socialized medicine which is absolutely crucial for a moral and humane society, I'd still prefer living in the USA;"

As long as you don't want to actually access said health care. Then folks (who can afford it) come to the US (Canadians especially). You can easily die waiting for health care with communist medicine. Unless you're Politburo with a dacha.

You're an idiot. I live in a country with socialized medicine (Belgium), and I've never encountered nor heard of this. I know people in France, Germany, Holland and Sweden, all dreaded socialist democracies, and I've never heard about anything like that from them either. The French go on strike for the silliest things, yet somehow they don't feel the need to blockade Paris over all those poor peasants dying while queuing for medical aid.

So take your "waiting list" strawman and shove it. By now we all know CANADIAN socialized health care sucks, it's the classical dead horse US Republican shills keep beating to a pulp. Apparently, it's a badly implemented system, big deal. I've heard about similar problems in UK health care (correct me if I'm wrong), so maybe it says more about the Anglo-Saxon approach to health care than about socialized medicine in general.

And BTW, who said universal medicine is "absolutely crucial"? The entire world did without it before the end of last century and civilization seems to have worked just fine, thank you.

Sure, nothing wrong with high infant mortality and the occasional raging epidemic to keep the rabble's numbers manageable.

[Steve James]

Re: hospitals and med-care, you'll never hear of a French person coming to the US --or leaving France -- for health care. People from the US go to Europe, including France, to receive treatment they can't receive in the states. Moreover, the French have a higher life expectancy, lower infant mortality, less heart disease and fewer strokes --even though the eat fat, drink and used to smoke as much or more than anyone else.

But, I think most people prefer to go to a hospital near home, wherever that is. (Although, people will travel to get their drugs.) So, maybe it's better to ask who is dissatisfied with their own health care system than to complain about the health systems of others. Anyway, I think Americans against socialized medicine generally point to Great Britain, first, when it comes to lack of access. Canada, ime, is usually seen as a good example. Though, I can't say I've been paying much attention to health care in Canada lately.