Dear Jim,
Congratulations on this posting. It makes it very clear to me just where the
USA is up to.
Thanks,
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
CAMS - Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist
- United States Metric Association
ASM - Accredited Speaking Member
- National Speakers Association of Australia
Member, International Federation for Professional Speakers
--
on 2002/03/05 09.46, James Frysinger at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Just posted:
>
> The above comments point out the reality that one of the major industrial
> nations on Earth (the U.S.) continues to use non-metric units in matters of
> everyday life and that this creates a burden on many people, inside and
> outside the U.S., to convert back and forth between this hodgepodge of units
> and metric units.
>
> But those comments neglect to mention that the U.S. is much more metric now
> than it was in the 70s when the government de-funded the metric program.
> Virtually all federal building projects are now metric. Roughly half the
> money spent on highway construction in the U.S. is being spent on projects
> designed and constructed in metric units. The Navy's latest class of
> amphibious assault ships was designed in and is being built entirely in
> metric units.
>
> Over half of all Americans live in states who now allow metric-only labeling
> on products regulated by the states. Work is in progress to amend the FPLA to
> do the same at the federal level. These steps are partly in response to
> global economic pressures. Japan and the Republic of Korea forbid importing
> any items for sale that contain any non-metric indications; all goods sold
> there must be marked only in metric units. Australia has similar laws. The
> European Union has a directive that goes into effect at the end of 2009 to do
> the same thing; it is on its third and probably last deferment of the
> effective date.
>
> The reason for this global market move is that the metric system has become
> the international language of measurement, just as English has become the
> international language of business. Non-metric units present an opportunity
> for fraud in countries where they are not recognized and the ban on them is
> spreading.
>
> Let's face it, Americans, we're outvoted! That's global democracy for you and
> money is the ballot. Our share of global trade has slipped from 15% to 10% in
> the last decade and our American businesses are being forced by existing
> federal law to continue retailing in non-metric units, which is an additional
> cost factor.
>
> Before you get too wound up trumpeting the virtues of you favorite yard,
> pound, and gallon, you should realize that those have been defined in terms
> of the metric system for about 108 years now. In 1875 we were a charter
> member of the group that started the metric system off as the international
> system of measurement. Shortly after 1805 we did our first coastal survey
> using the original meter standard and coastal surveys have been done using
> that unit, directly or otherwise, ever since then. The metric system is as
> much a part of us, if not more so, than any other collection of units. If
> you think we stopped metricating in the 70s, you just haven't noticed the
> changes since then.
>
> For a brief, online history of the metric system, see the work in progress at
> http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj/background.htm
> And for more on the continuing move towards metrication in the U.S. see
> http://www.metricmethods.com/UPLR.html
> and
> http://www.metricmethods.com/theneed.html
>
> J.R. Frysinger, CAMS
> Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
> College of Charleston
> Charleston, SC 29424
> http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj
>
