American democratic socialists are probably slightly to the right of the center of European social democrats. Forty years ago, France's "socialists" under François Mitterrand disavowed classical socialism as they privatized many of France's government enterprises. But virtually every European politician now recognizes that access to medical care is a basic human right. This new breed of American democratic socialists — or call them what you will — is simply advocating a model that embraces government's important role in social protection and inclusion, environmental protection, and public investment in infrastructure, technology and education. They recognize the public's regulatory role in preventing corporations from exploiting customers or workers in a multitude of ways, whether it's through data collection by the new tech companies or excessive risk-taking, as exemplified by banks in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.