Sunday Poll: Should The U.S. Switch To The Metric System?
Some of you are too young to remember our brief flirtation with the metric system, 1975-1982:
The Metric Conversion Act is an Act of Congress that U.S. President Gerald Ford signed into law on December 23, 1975. It declared the Metric system “the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce”, but permitted the use of United States customary units in non-business activities. The Act also established the United States Metric Board with representatives from scientific, technical, and educational institutions, as well as state and local governments to plan, coordinate, and educate the American people for the Metrication of the United States.
Executive Order 12770, which cites the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, directed departments and agencies within the executive branch of the United States Government to “take all appropriate measures within their authority” to use the metric system “as the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce.” (Wikipedia)
In 1982 President Reagan disbanded the 17-member Metric Board (source). I’ve driven in Canada, where the metric system is used. US highways aren’t in metric — except I-19 in Arizona:
The roughly 60-mile stretch (or about 100 kilometers) is the only continuous highway in the U.S. with metric signs, and it’s the subject of a long-simmering spat over whether they should be changed back to the standard system. (Arizona highway signs in metric units may change)
There were, and are, valid arguments for keeping measurement system as is, and for changing to match 3/4 of the world. Which brings me to the poll question for today: Should the U.S. switch to the metric system?
The poll is open for 12 hours, 8am-8pm central. Results will be posted Wednesday.
— Steve Patterson
I’m a “maybe”. While I get why it makes sense, on an intellecutal level, I’m also a big believer in “If it an’t broke, don’t ‘fix’ it!” It’s kind of like why we “should” get rid of a lot of the small cities in St. Louis County, eliminate the dueling automotive crash and pollution standards between the United States and Europe, decide between European and American electrical voltages, make drivers in the UK and Australia drive on the right side of the road (not the left) and legalize marijuana. They all “make sense”, but implementing the changes won’t really make daily life that much better, for most people, yet we would have to commit to large expenditures of scarce resources to implement the “changes” . . . .
By year 2020, why doesn’t the entire world convert to speaking Japanese or German or Mandarin Chinese–just for “uniformity” sake? The Japanese, Chinese and Germans run fairly efficient counties, and there’s no reason why use of one of those three languages wouldn’t (eventually) meet our needs here in the US. The medical industries are well-served by German, so maybe if we’d switch to German we could offset the harm done by Obamacare and restore our nation’s reputation as a leader in medical care. Forget the fact that many Americans haven’t mastered the language they were born with! Or why don’t we all just drive on the left side of the road? Doing so would make those frequent trips to London less confusing! Let’s declare that by 2026 all the world will become Catholic ! (It’s kind of a middle of the road religious group that appears to be growing more and more flexible– able to survive minor and major changes to accommodate its ever-evolving flock. And much of the world is infatuated with its new leader!!!) By next Christmas, let’s all start pulling Euros out of our pockets when we buy that next gallon of milk! It works in some areas of Europe; why not here in the US? I may think that Toyota builds the most efficient and long-lasting automobiles and trucks, so when I’m Czar I’m going to mandate that GM, Ford, Fiat, Nissan and the rest of those manufacturers quit wasting their time and cease manufacturing worldwide (wow, what a blow to Mexico’s economy!!!.) The pharmaceutical industry gets along well with the metric system. Not so with all industries. The Eagleton Courthouse in STL was a metric experiment. It turned out to be a metric fiasco (for several reasons–not just because the use of metric measurements.) Carpenters, ironworkers and tile setters don’t relate well to 2.54 centimeters! When I want to replace the floor covering in my family room, I can relate to needing 400 SF. If the craigslist ad reads “37.15 Sq meters for sale”, I don’t know that I’d be convinced that quantity would cover my floor. (The decimals make it hard to do “square root” in my head!) If I’m on-line buying a knife advertised as 30.48 centimeters, I can’t decide if the knife is 2″ long or 12 inches long–or 18″ long, and whether it would fit in my pocket or if I’d have to wear it on my hip– unless, of course, I pack my handy calculator too!!!. Now we’re going to have to redesign men’s pants so we can tote around all those Euros, a cell phone, calculator, wallet and oversized knives purchased in error because we weren’t aware of its size when we purchased it on-line. Some things are uniquely “American”. Why do we think that’s inherently bad?