GOP Fears the Metric System
- Metric Tags:
Faithful readers might enjoy this commentary by John Feehery, former staffer to Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other congressional Republicans. Feehery pontificates about the prospects for the country now that Al Franken's victory gives the Democrats (at least theoretically) 60 votes in the Senate.
What's so perfect about this commentary is the way it illustrates one of the prime features that got the Republican party to where it is today: its "We're Proud to be Luddites" attitude.
Feehery complains that the Democrats, now that they have attained a Senate supermajority, can be expected to start enacting crazy, left-liberal policies. His prime example? The metric system. It's his first sentence. Dems are going to impose metric the way they tried back in the 1970s.
See, that's what I mean. The metric system is used by the entire world except for the United States (OK, and Liberia and Burma. We're in such good company.) It's won out over the old British system because it is superior. Heck, even Britain doesn't use the British system any more.
Metric is so easy to use. If you go 17,525 meters, how many kilometers is that? Sheesh, it's 17.525. That took about 0 seconds to compute. Now if you go 17,525 feet, how many miles is that? Let's see, 5280 feet in a mile, so we need to divide 17,525 by 5280, so that makes . . . oh, you work it out.
With the whole rest of the world on metric, U.S. companies suffer in international trade. And we even screw up at home, like when NASA lost a Mars orbiter
because of confusion between British and metric units.
Maybe that's why the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, signed by Ronald Reagan, declares that it is the policy of the United States "to designate the metric system of measurement as the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce."
But even though the Republicans' favorite President signed this policy into law, Feehery isn't just against it -- he mocks it. He's proud that the U.S. lags behind the rest of the world in weights and measures. He holds out the metric system as one of those crazy, left-wing notions that the Democrats are just waiting to foist on us.
I doubt that the metric system is really high on the Democrats' agenda. But if it is, it's a good idea. Let's stop being proud of areas in which the U.S. is behind the rest of the world.
Posted by: Jon Siegel
Comments
I wonder what Mr Feehery's
I wonder what Mr Feehery's response would be if industry were to admit that many of them have left the US because they wanted to produce goods in metric so they would be sellable to the rest of the world and American's lack of metric knowledge is an impediment to obtaining well paying jobs.
The argument that metric is simple to do calculations in is meaningless to most people especially if due to the hardships of doing calculations in non-SI units avoid calculations altogether. But to argue that lack of metric knowledge or non-use of metric makes a potential employee un-hireable should be a wake-up call to the population desperately in need of well paying jobs. Maybe we need a new battle-cry....NO METRIC..NO JOBS.
Units of measure.
Actually, Britain continues to use British (Imperial) units. Miles, yards, feet, and inches for road traffic, distance, and speed measurement. Here is the way the UK does it:
Distance and speed signs must be in Imperial units only (Miles, yards, feet, and inches)
Weight limit is currently in metric tons (in the UK it is called tonnes)
Height, width, and length limit can be imperial only or dual imperial/metric. however, if a sign is metric only, it is illegal, unless if the imperial is put alongside it.
Also, pints (20 imperial fl oz, 568 ml) for the measure of draught beer, cider, and milk-
British law says that draught beer and cider must be sold only by the pint (20oz/568ml), 1/2 pint (10oz/284ml), and 1/3 pint (6.66oz/189ml)
Milk can be sold in either metric or imperial sizes.
The USA can continue to use Imperial measures. When we put Neil Armstrong on the moon, he went only in miles, yards, feet, and inches, pounds, and ounces, gallons, and pints and the like.
Same thing when the UK had the Industrial Revolution. They used imperial measures and at that time they were one of the world's superpowers. Now, look at the United Kingdom, as head of the Commonwealth. Using imperial measures doesn't hold Britain back, nor it does the United States.
Where's the 'Great' in Britain if they prosecute folks for selling in pounds and ounces? America needs to learn how we tried to metricate, which started in 1975, as well as how the UK did, which did in 1965.
The United Kingdom had metric only education since 1974. At that time, the Education secretary was Margaret Thatcher. She ensured that kids were taught in metric only, but by the time she became Prime Minister, she wanted to let Britain continue to have freedom of choice, miles or kilometres, gallons or liters, pounds and kilos, and the like. Before 1974 all British schools did in fact teach metric, with the traditional Imperial system.
It's unique that the United Kingdom had metric only education to find out that there is widespread rejection of metric over there. It didn't matter whether our British cousins lived in London, West Midlands, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, or the rest of England. The majority of the British public prefer Imperial.
The same case here in the USA. However, we have metric and imperial education. However, it leads that the majority of Americans reject metric. It didn't matter whether we lived in New York, Nashville, Florida, South Carolina, Alaska, Hawaii, Motor City, Texas, California, Vegas... we Americans prefer Imperial.
Britain still uses the Imperial system, along with the United States, Burma, and Liberia. It's cool that the latter two countries belonged to the first 2 countries respectively!!!
The majority of American and British people prefer acres and square feet when dealing with area, pounds and ounces for prepacked or loose food, gallons and pints for liquids, cubic feet, for the volume and capacity of a fridge, miles and yards for roads, feet and inches for height. When it comes to weight we Americans measure in pounds, while the British use stone (a weight equivalent to 14 lbs) and lbs. If you weigh 136 lbs for example, in the USA it will be said as '136 lbs', while in the UK, it is '9 stone 10lbs'
America and Britain are not lagging behind. What does a market trader in London selling fruit and veg in lbs & oz have to do w/ international trade? There needs to be diversity in our world. China uses the jin (Chinese lb), for example. China, Japan, and South Korea have their own weights and measures. Why can't America and Britain?
America and Britain can still be modern industrial countries, even if we cling to Imperial units.
In many cases the US & the UK have their own way of doing things that are very different from Canada and Ireland respectively.
It's so sad to see prosecutions of folks in the UK not being able to weigh and sell by lbs, oz, pints, gallons, liters, etc and all the like. I do sympathize w/ our British cousins.
Let America learn from the British metrication program so they can try their best to allow freedom of choice, and for America not to let such a similar thing happen.
"America and Britain are not lagging behind."
"America and Britain are not lagging behind."
Ha ha ha!
"China uses the jin (Chinese lb), for example."
One gong jin = one kilogram. China is completely metric, with rare exceptions.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
What's so big and bad about the metric system?
The idea that the metric system is something to be feared is a lot of hooey. Australia changed to the metric system in the 1970s without all this fuss. Even changing over the road signs went smoothly.
Australia gone metric
Canada has too. The US and Canada were supposed to switch together, but Canada went through with the switch and the US remained in the 14th century.
Are you serious?
Do you actually know anything about Metrication in the United Kingdom? Doesn't look like it.
Brits are extremely opposed to the Metric System (78%) and 92% are against the metrication of our roads. We do not even use metric, at all. The EU forces us to use metric units in the sale of loose goods and imperial units ONLY if they are alongside the metric equivalent. However, pretty much EVERYONE sells by the lb & oz. I am 15 and even ALWAYS ask for Imperial Units at school etc. Just by going into the village shops, pretty much every shop selling fruit & veg etc use lb and oz. Yes, they use kg weighing machines, but they have a converter right next to them. The shopkeeper pays no attention to the kg and instantly converts it, and so they should.
Why do you think the most anti-metric party & eurosceptic party, UK Independence Party (who I support), came second, beating Labour (Gordon Brown's Party) and Nick Clegg's Liberals? Only losing to the Conservatives who came first, who incidentally are also anti-metric, and slightly eurosceptic.
Election results here: http://bit.ly/hkkmti
Even im maths lessons, we use miles for distance, and both feet & metres for length of triangle sides etc. We use feet, yards and miles on roads. In fact metric units on roads are ILLEGAL! Not even when accompaning Imperial Units. The only reason you believe that we actually use such a stupid and pointless system, is because we are 'offically metric' because of the European Union.
If you don't believe me, even the UK Metric Association believes that the UK is behind the US when it comes to metrication. How I hate metric....