Marcus, There's an old expression: if your opponent wants to hand himself, feed him rope!
There's nothing dark, cynical or perverse about it, it's a normal competitive procedure. In the short run it gives you some competitive advantage, in the long run your opponent realizes he's being taken advantage of and moderates his behavior. Business as usual. Nat -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Ma Be Sent: Thursday, 2002 May 02 10:42 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:19847] Let them be inefficient on purpose?... Pat has brought a *very important aspect here* to our attention. I suspect that one of the reasons indeed that there is not more pressure, externally, for the US to go metric may be exactly that! To keep the US from benefitting from the use of SI so that their industries remain 'uncompetitive', as he put it. Sadly so... However, this is a very skewed, naive and perverse stance. Why? Simple, they're forgetting the *marketing* power of US industries, their capability of flooding our markets with ifp trash and by doing so eventually forcing metric industries to operate inefficiently, i.e. to produce products to hard rational ifp standards! This is a subversive practice that can bring demise to our *own* industry in the end! And I'm amazed to see that they're not seeing that!!! Perhaps a letter of reminder to them would be in order... ;-) Marcus On Thu, 02 May 2002 11:48:12 Pat Naughtin wrote: >Dear Jim and All, > >on 2002/05/01 08.01, James Frysinger at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >The final passage of your letter to ASME caught my eye as I had only >finished reading this morning's copy of the Melbourne paper, 'The Age'. > ><snip> > >> If I were a foreign >> contractor, one look at this magazine would give me severe reservations about >> using American mechanical engineering companies. I feel that this is an issue >> that is incredibly important to the ASME for the sake of presenting a >> professional appearance. > >The relevant parts from 'The Age' read: > >'Trade Minister Mark Vaille yesterday took a fresh approach in the debate >about United States farm subsidies: let the Americans keep on with the >process because its making their agricultural industries increasingly >uncompetitive.' > >Direct quotes from the Minister for Trade included: > >"That was to let the Americans keep subsidising inefficient industries that >are producing products that we've already proven we can compete against and >sell ahead of," he said. > >"So let them keep spending money. That in turn, will stop American producers >looking for new technology and improving the way they produce. > >'There is an upside as well as a downside in all this. Our producers have >grasped the nettle in terms of new techniques and new crops and we're >winning in the marketplace." > >*** > >I know that Australia is a long way from the USA and that farming is a long >way from mechanical engineering, but I believe the views of the Australian >government's Minister for Trade are very possibly shared by many others >around the world - at the expense of industry in the USA. > >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 >-- > > Is your boss reading your email? ....Probably Keep your messages private by using Lycos Mail. Sign up today at http://mail.lycos.com
