Our French and Francophile betters often remind us of the superiority of le modèle social français compared to, well, anything else but most notably anything American. Yet somehow for many French the benefits of this superior model remain distant if not wholly occluded -- when not absent altogether.

Alas, the superiority of this model appears to reside solely in the pronouncements of those who believe it so. Luckily these folk always have an American acquaintance or anecdote or handy fiction whose sad tale is proof enough of the misery rampant in America, even though many of us do not feel the precarity that our French betters generously project onto us.

For example, Clair Whitmer, the American editor at Expatica stokes her gaa-gaa Francophilia by super-sizing her personal complaints with America:

Before moving here, my husband was laid-off from an American company and our 'guaranteed' healthcare coverage was costing us nearly US $600 a month. But we were quite simply terrified to go without; one broken arm for my school-age kid and that's it, his college fund is wiped out.

Unlike Ms. Whitmer's disastrous hypothetical, we have actually had a broken bone set without benefit of health coverage. This in New York state. It required a trip to the ER and cost less than $400.* Ms. Whitmer either has mistakenly envisioned an arm replacement for her son or would appear to have high hopes of funding her son's college tuition for under $500.

Which brings us to the below sad news item.

MOTHER, DAUGHTER DIE OF STARVATION IN FRANCE

PARIS July 4, 2006 (Reuters) - A mother and her 5-year-old daughter starved to death in the suburbs of Paris and their bodies lay undiscovered in an apartment for up to four months, police said on Tuesday.

"The post-mortem showed that it was a natural death and not a murder or intoxication. They died three or four months ago," a police official said, adding that the mother must have prevented her daughter from eating.

This struck us as an odd bit of police deduction. The deaths are deemed natural -- in as much as starvation in a land of plenty can be so deemed -- but the police have determined the mother's agency in the daughter's death. Natural death occurs when vitality fails of itself. Death is not natural when brought about by a wilful agent.

The bodies were discovered in Paris's Aubervilliers suburb last week and a local official said he could not understand why it had taken so long to realize something had gone wrong. "What we have to find out is why no-one was worried about this little girl given that she hadn't attended school for months," Jean-Claude Romeo, head of child and family welfare at the local council.

The mother was named as Doomitra, 32, from Mauritius, and the child was called Chana.

Not simply four months out of sight of school and social services, but four months out of sight of neighbors and community. Four months out of sight of a landlord, whether private or municipal.

We do not suggest that a single report discredits le modèle social français wholesale, there is more exhaustive and conclusive evidence for that (vid. supra). However, we would suggest our franchouilles and Franco-buddies keep this news item in mind the next time they build their case against "dark America" based on first-, second-, and third-hand anecdotes.

* Had we pleaded financial difficulty, the bill would have been halved. Had we pleaded financial distress, it would have been adjusted to a manageable token amount. Had we pleaded poverty it would have been written off entirely. As it was we were happy to pay as billed.

PFFT (What is this?): Not too super 5 | Rayonnement français 0

Bonjour,

A propos de la famine:

Qui se souvient de " l 'excellence" du modèle yankee qui ,en 1929 , a condamné des centaines de Yanks à mourir (au sens propre) de faim devrait rester discret sur les résultats mirobolants du susdit modèle.
Un peu de pudeur , amis Yanks !
Nous avons lu "les raisins de la colère" en France .
La France se souvient donc , de l' hubrys rapace de vos Capitalistes et de sa terrible conséquence;l 'avènement du Nazisme en Allemagne.
Il n ' y a pas besoin d' être grand clerc pour voir qu'aujourd'hui à nouveau votre situation financière n'est pas saine et que " qui rit aujourd'hui demain pleurera !".
Votre cupidité vous a complètement mis entre les mains de la Chine et vous courrez vers de très gros problèmes….

Good luck to ? your country in Irak !!