Play on the "we are the best" philosophy:
Scare the public with the knowledge that the Europeans are designing products in IFP
to sell to Americans, taking away American manufacturing jobs.... The best way to fix
this is to start designing metric products in American factories to sell to Europe!
Catch the Europeans with their pants down, convert to metric and make them spend all
the time redesigning it in metric again.
On a second note:
I was at a local home trade show on the weekend. I spoke with a representative of a
building contractor association.
When I asked how difficult it would be to hire a contractor to do metric work he
replied: "Why would you want to the industry is still Imperial? We just have to add
millimetres to the plans because the laws force us to."
Then I said that I don't understand the system and I'm at a disadvantage as a
consumer. He replied " Are you from Europe or something?" I replied that I grew up
with nothing but metric in school and that's what I prefer to use. He mentioned that
his daughters are like that as well.
Finally I pressed him by asking what it would take to make the Canadian construction
industry convert to metric. He said that it would require the Americans to adopt
metric. I told him that $10 billion US is spent each year on US domestic construction
projects. He did admit that he was a cabinet maker at one time and the technology for
this is mostly European and thus he did all his work in millimetres. He would
definately work a metric project if metric materials were available.
So, from the horses mouth: Make metric materials available and they will built it.
greg
>>> Adrian Jadic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 2001-03-18 10:11:54 >>>
I agree with you and Andy that this is the best thing to do at this point in
history.
I am requesting contractors to work from metric only drawings with metric
only tape measures. Sometimes it works and sometimes they are doing their
best to clever their way out of my request. My shop has mainly metric
components. In spite this, people think more that I am missing a bolt
(metric or not) rather than pursuing a noble and/or economically viable
cause for America.
The downside of the step by step scenario is that at a similar pace,
companies that are traditionally metric (ex. European) and want to enter the
US market, are not only labeling their products ifp first and metric in
brackets but many times redesigning their product to even ifp sizes. I am
also fighting that, but are they listening?
My dilemma is what would trigger mass acceptance in US. The carpenter and
the plumber will still build their houses and if Home Depot will cut the
plywood to metric only sizes you will find a lot more protests than they
have now cutting it in ifp only, and there will be other stores eager to cut
them in whatever the customer wants.
Even if the highways are built from metric only drawings they still display
miles and mph. Starting now to build them to metric standards certainly
helps a lot the transition when the time comes, but it will not make the
transition. I don't think that any state governor will decide to change the
signs without wishing himself out of the political arena.
Americans, unlike any other nation are more eager to oppose rather than
back-up a Government initiative.
Or, let's put it this way: If any of us were a counselor to a President
which is 100% pro-metrication and wishes to implement it, what would we tell
him to do?
In WW2 the President had to close the ear on the reports that the Japanese
were attacking, in order to get the public's cooperation to enter the war.
Would the metrication change need similar efforts?
Metrication laws are in effect but no major media or network is backing them
up for a reason I don't understand. EU ban on dual labeling has more chances
to start a commercial war rather than to convince the American public to
switch. All the people I spoke about the NASA mishap take it with a smile in
a forgiving way: "that damn' system is so weird that even the rocket
scientists don't understand it".
Our company prefers to have double stock for Canadian paint cans and
domestic paint cans rather than switch to metric only labeling. And I
believe that even if metric only was already accepted in all states we would
still do this to please the customer.
===It has to be a nation-wide trigger!. What has the potential to do
this?===
For me, I think that enhancing the NAFTA agreement and eventually adding
more nations would have the potential to trigger the switch. I can picture
open borders like you see now in Europe with multiple language labeled
products. This will conform to American multiculturalism, and world trade.
>A
-----Original Message-----
From: Nat Hager III [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Sunday 18 March 2001 09:06
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:11686] RE: Fwd: What... (was: USMA digest 488)
That's exactly my philosophy Andy. That's why I so closely follow things
such as product labeling and highway construction. It's the *little* things
that are going to get metric from where it is now to the point of "critical
mass", where things begin to avalanche.
The key is to get the %metric GNP from the current 40% (as I've heard quoted
many times) up to around 60-70%. Then the message is out in US industry that
there's no future in continuing with ifp standards, and the process
accelerates.
With that in place the public areas just get dragged along, kicking and
screaming if necessary.
Nat
>
> What would trigger the final decision by U.S. to go
> metric?
>
> My hunch is it is the kind of thing where one more
> little item, one more little victory, one more
> business switching, one more industry converting,
> etc., all adds up, until suddenly the entire pile of
> little things builds up to making something big
> happen. I see it as something like continuing to add
> one more feather and one more onto the scales until it
> suddenly tips our way.
>
> Andy Johnson
> http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/metricAmerica
> --- Adrian Jadic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > From: Adrian Jadic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Subject: [USMA:11683] What... (was: USMA digest 488)
> > Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 19:42:56 -0500
> > Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> >
> > I must be in one of my pessimism low points (or
> > highs.. depends how you see
> > it).
> > I certainly share your views and I also believe it
> > is an achievable goal. I
> > am not a Don Quixote myself.
> >
> > I did not mean to discourage, I was just asking a
> > hopefully proactive
> > question:
> > ====WHAT? ...would (or could) really trigger the
> > switch?====
> > Like you, I am doing my best to speed it up in any
> > way I can, but it just
> > helps, it doesn't trigger.
> >
> > Large companies, the pharmaceutical and automobile
> > industry have switched
> > but this is, more or less internally due to market
> > needs. People don't see
> > the bolts in the car nor the drawings it was made
> > from. Cars still display
> > mph.
> > As for the drugs, many don't understand anyway
> > what's written on the
> > packages or they don't care because they are sick
> > and want to get "fixed"
> > (to quote an expression that my wife hears daily).
> > We still have
> > Thermometers in F, scales in lbs. ...and nurses
> > Celsius-free.
> >
> > How about the masses, people (as John mentioned
> > today) who are loudly crying
> > "Never!". The healthy plumber or carpenter who are
> > building houses for a
> > living in "the greatest country in the world"? What
> > would convince these
> > guys to forget about their "two-by-four" and the
> > half-inch pipe?
> >
> > Obviously, the Mars disaster due to sloppy
> > metrication, did not trigger any
> > mass reaction despite the financial loss. The
> > carpenter is probably
> > thinking: "we should have not messed with those
> > "metrics" in the first
> > place, our system is just fine!".
> > NASA made a big report with a lot of brushed-up
> > recommendations but nobody
> > asked the Chief Engineer to resign. This tells me
> > that even NASA is still
> > not entirely convinced. How about if we had lost
> > astronauts?
> >
> > I prefer to stop here and let everybody join the
> > discussion if they wish to.
> >
> > I am convinced that sometimes it is useful to sit
> > back and look at the big
> > picture although it might look pessimistic. It helps
> > me focus better.
> >
> > So, what would/could trigger a large scale
> > metrication in the US?
> >
> > A.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Andy Johnson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> > Sent: Saturday 17 March 2001 15:29
> > To: U.S. Metric Association
> > Subject: [USMA:11681] Fwd: Re: USMA digest 488
> >
> >
> > Now...if you were to convince me as a certainty that
> > the U.S. is not going to go metric in my lifetime,
> > then I would lose interest in the cause. I am not
> > interested in metrication as a game or as a hobby
> > but
> > as a very definite achievable worthwile political
> > goal.
> > Elaborate if you can, if you will, about how you see
> > it, please. As for me, I am sure we will be metric
> > someday, and I hope I can speed it up a bit.
> >
> > Andy Johnson
> >
> > --- Adrian Jadic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > From: Adrian Jadic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > Subject: [USMA:11677] Re: USMA digest 488
> > > Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 12:42:26 -0500
> > > Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > >
> > > I agree that anti-metric thinking is deeply
> > > engrained in our society but,
> > > (and I apologize for my pessimism) I believe that
> > a
> > > tragedy won't be enough.
> > >
> > > Just look at the gun laws. There was a Columbine
> > > tragedy and several more
> > > before and after that. Results.. nothing.
> > >
> > > For Australia a tragedy was enough to trigger a
> > mass
> > > approval of the gun
> > > ban. Similarly, it did not take much to convince
> > > them of the metric
> > > advantages in spite of their English heritage.
> > Here,
> > > it seems we need
> > > something more.
> > >
> > > The question is WHAT? Personally, I believe that
> > > something has to shatter
> > > the American self confidence before the many would
> > > accept that there is time
> > > for a serious/radical change.
> > >
> > > I have lived for extended periods in several
> > > countries and only here I found
> > > this strong mass conviction that "We are the
> > best".
> > > When the human spirit
> > > reaches that level there is no place for change.
> > > History proved this many
> > > times.
> > >
> > > A.
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Paul Trusten [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> > > Sent: Friday 16 March 2001 22:50
> > > To: U.S. Metric Association
> > > Subject: [USMA:11674] Re: USMA digest 488
> > >
> > >
> > > You are quite right; it is a risk management
> > issue.
> > > But I'm afraid that
> > > anti-metric thinking is deeply ingrained in this
> > > society, and nothing will
> > > change until a tragedy happens.
> > >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
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> >
>
>
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