John Kilopascal wrote in USMA 20221: >There is more, but it just emphasises the point expressed above. The >point being that the global world economy will be controlled by the US, at >least that is what many believe. If this is the case, then it will be a >long hard battle for SI. The US will use its power and influence to >assure a spot for FFU in the metric world. There will be no attempts to >change America's way of measuring to accomodate the world. The world must >accomodate the US. Maporama is being realistic when it defaults its >European site to US units. Its supporters know that is what America >wants. And what America wants is what America gets.
John is being simplistic when he says "what America wants". The evidence is that the administration favors metric. I have skimmed the 900 pages of the North Amoerica Free Trade Agreement and I have found no trace of inch-pound in it. It is Congress that is against metric, because Congressmen know that they would lose votes if they supported metrication. It is their duty to represeent their constituents against the administration. I suspect that there also a trace of Great Power conceit. Canada does not have the three-way division of powers of the American constitution. The judiciary is independent, but the Governor General invites the leader of the largest party of the House of Commons to form a government. The government controls the civil service, but is itself subject to the approval of the House of Commons. The Honourable Members are expected to be delegates of their constituents, that is they are expected to vote for what they think is good for their constituents, which is not necessarily what their constituents want. The Government announced in January 1970 that Canada was going metric, partly because the US was going metric. There had been no popular consultation although many professional organizations had recommended the chnage. No significant opposition appeared in Parliament until 1980 when the Conservative government called off the metrication of retail food scales. HTML><HEAD> ><META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> ><META content="MSHTML 6.00.2716.2200" name=GENERATOR> ><STYLE></STYLE> ></HEAD> ><BODY bgColor=#ffffff> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>2002-05-26</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>An interesting Associated Press article >appeared in >today's Cleveland Plain dealer:</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Normandy awaits Bush with some mixed >feelings</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Mort Rosenblum</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Associated Press</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Lisieaux, France - Didier Douailen, who sells >space-age phones in this ancient Normandy town, has no qualms about a >globalized >world with an American accent. But, he doesn't know what to make of >George >W. Bush.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>President Bush is to arrive in France today >and is >to spend Memorial Day on the beaches where US troops landed 58 years >ago. >To this day, the occassional shop window in Lisieaux still reads "Welcome >to our >Liberators."</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>"I'd like to think well of Bush, but we just >don't >know what to expect from him, or what he will do next," Douailen said, >reflecting a wide held attitude, not only in Normandy but across >France.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>He fears that Bush's inexperience in foreign >affairs may lead to serious conflict, and his America-first economic policies >endanger world trade. "Bush is 200 % protectionist, that's for sure," he >said.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>For many in Normandy, the fact that Bush >emerged as >the US leader is reason enough to support him.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>....................</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>There is more, but it just emphasises the point >expressed above. The point being that the global world economy will be >controlled by the US, at least that is what many believe. If this is the >case, then it will be a long hard battle for SI. The US will use its >power >and influence to assure a spot for FFU in the metric world. There >will be >no attempts to change America's way of measuring to accomodate the >world. >The world must accomodate the US. Maporama is being realistic when it >defaults its European site to US units. Its supporters know that is what >America wants. And what America wants is what America gets.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>John</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML> Joseph B.Reid 17 Glebe Road West Toronto M5P 1C8 Tel. 416 486-6071
