www.hpj.com/opinion/time-to-go-metric/article_2cf2e38c-72ed-584e-a6e8-c92112c2d929.html
We missed an opportunity to move our primary system of measurement to the metric system back in the late 1970s. People rose up against changing from miles to meters and from quarts to liters for what good outcome? Metric measurements didnt go away and the United States has incurred more confusion, expense and self-imposed exile because of unwillingness to unify within a mature measurement system that works worldwide.
If the French hadnt invented it, we could probably accept the decimal based measurement more easily. France was a nation of great scientific achievement in the 19th century and implemented the metric system in 1875. But France fell out of favor due its wartime actions and rude waiters in the 20th century. As the United States gained dominance following World War II, the diplomatic language shifted from French to English, and we thought all else would follow. We failed to realize the shortcomings of our arcane Roman and Germanic units of measurement that evolved from the length of a kings arm or the width of the rumps of two Roman horses.
It was impossible for us to accept changing all measurement, except time, by establishing of a single measure of length: the meter, and a single measure of weight and volume: the kilogram. As a French philosopher put it, the metric system was to be: For all people, for all time. We said: Not us.
Americas scientific advancement in the 1940s, and especially when we sent men to the moon in the 1960s, boosted our ego to a high level. However, the scientific community, manufacturers, who exported, and those citizens who had peacetime interaction with Europe, began to favor the metric system until push came to shove in the 1970s. In my humble opinion, we had too much pride and too much bravado to admit something from across the water was better than our own. We stopped legislative attempts to go metric by applying the basic rule of humanity: Rich people are never wrong. We argued the infrastructure and legal divisions of property were laid out in traditional measurement so, we the powerful, exerted our influence to allow our system to prevail.
For the past century, technology has been the greatest factor in the argument for unifying worldwide measurement. We ship all types of products to every country and have no hesitation to buy industrial machines and vehicles made in Europe, Japan or wherever they are made cheaper or better. As a result, the tools for repair had to be in metric units. That one 160-piece socket and wrench set you got for Christmas is half metric and half United States customary units.
The challenge of conversion to a new system is the number of people who know the old one. The classic example is keys on the typewriter laid out in the QWERTY configuration. I contend it wont be hard to parallel measurements for a few years and then convert. Metric units quantify length, area, volume and mass. We have a number of these measurements already in our daily language: the liter, or litre is almost exactly a quart. I hear people quote the price of 2-liter bottles as the norm for soda pop measurement so I know there can be change, even among those who oppose it. Milligram is common in prescriptions for medications. Most news stories about drug busts give the haul in kilos(kilograms or about 2.2 pounds) so we know its imported. Kilometers(3,281 feet) are the norm for almost all foot races and for Olympic events. Hectares define area and equate to about 2 and a half acres. A metric ton(1000 kilos or 2,200 pounds) is about 39 bushels of corn.
The scientific community deals almost exclusively in metric measurements as do most manufacturers who sell worldwide or buy equipment from foreign sources. The military has to work in both modes as well. The need for collaboration between scientists was shown in a bad outcome for a Mars probe in the late 1990s. There is good substantiation the joint U.S. and European project crashed because of a computer software error. In other words, it was sent guidance that confused American measurements with metric and came in too close to the planet. The difference between 100 miles and 100 kilometers may not be that substantial, but in this case it was goodbye to $100 million!
Government is making us do so many things we are sure are bad. Why cant it make us do something that will be good for future generations? Probably the most difficult change in daily life would be measurement of temperature. The TV stations would need to quote both Celsius and Fahrenheit for several years until we get the hang of 100 degrees from freezing to boiling rather than 180. The two align only at 40 degrees below zero so only people in North Dakota and Alaska can appreciate the similarity. Road signs would need to have both miles and kilometers posted for an undetermined period of time. Digital speedometers in vehicles already convert from metric to American.
If we had changed to metric 40 years ago, our view of the world might be different today. We would likely have more in common and be more inclusive. In dealing with terrorists, for example, we could discuss killing them with 9 millimeter bullets rather than using a 357 magnum.
It is hard to accept that a familiar system is archaic. We laid out the Louisiana Purchase in square miles. How are we going to change that? The landmarks will remain just like the ones all over the world that were pre-metric and our verbiage will become bi-measurement just like many are bilingual. The world is becoming more precise and unified. What we memorized in school is not wrong, its just out of date. Unless you believe God ordained the cubit or measurements derived from width of hands or length of arms, this metric conversion is necessary.
Editors note: Ken Root has been an agricultural reporter for 40 years. Root now does daily radio and television programming and is a columnist. He can be reached at kenr...@gmail.com, or send mail for him to High Plains Journal.
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