(In reply to that question offered from our Yahoo group)
Now, all of you know that I am pro-metric. I've participated on this
mailing list for almost four years, and have been involved with the
metrication issue since before the passage of the 1975 MCA. Heck, I even
coined the term WOMBAT. But, I fear that, ceteris paribus, the prospects
for quick US metrication have grown dim with the passage of time.
In the US, there has been increased anti-metric zealotry, primarily
among those who see US metrication as contributing to the arrival of the
anti-Christ ("the mark", no money passing without it being recorded, the
New World Order, etc.). Softer versions of this zealotry imply that the
US is giving in to world domination by adopting SI, and this doctrine
tends to seep into the consciousness of the average American. But also,
my own view of US metrication is that it will excite what I (and author
Alvin Toffler) refer to as "Future Shock", a process in which there are
too many changes in our daily lives with which we are uncomfortable (one
bellweather for metrication is my Dad, who says, "I couldn't be
bothered".) My number one ingredient for US metrication has been that it
must be inspiring, and I see nothing among present-day US society to
inspire this change.
There is only one thing that will do it quickly---an economic disaster.
If this economic disaster includes problems with US global competition,
then metrication will become a top national priority. It will be then
that the participants in this listserv can serve as the first US Metric
Board, and breathlessly share its expertise with a nervous government
and nervous CEOs. Gosh darn it, why the US government and the industrial
captains don't see SI as a hedge against global trouble NOW, baffles me.
I suppose T. Jefferson applies here: "Mankind are more disposed to
suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by
abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." (US Declaration of
Independence [from Britain], July 2, 1776).
In a reasonably good economy,I do not see metrication happening "now",
or "soon". By osmosis, it might happen in about 50 years, one mOsml at a
time. But, if we suddenly encounter a Rooseveltian depression, then,
IMHO,US metrication will become a sacrament.
--
Paul Trusten, R.Ph.
3609 Caldera Boulevard, Apt. 122
Midland TX 79707-2872 USA
(915)-694-6208
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
