Point 1 � US metrication must be Inspirational.
I do not believe that any approach to making the US an SI nation can ignore the revulsion of the average American (even this writer sometimes) to wave upon wave of acceleration of change, and this change we seek, a change in our system of measurement, could be perceived as the unkindest cut of all, especially if it is seen as some kind of assault on America perpetrated by the world beyond our shores. Therefore, US metrication must be dramatic, purposeful, and uplifting, extolling the virtues of decimal arithmetic and of having a true standard of measurement which is in practical concert with the rest of humanity. We have the spirit to do it: postage stamps, public service announcements, statements of support from the President and Congressional leaders, celebrity endorsements--all will move to popularize SI in the public's mind.
I think a better approach is the one we are currently taking: a stealth approach. Metric is creeping into all aspects of American life, mostly unnoticed, and therefore unopposed. To make a big deal of metrication is guaranteed to bring out the anti-metric activists. We are already making headway � why trumpet our success to our enemies?
Example: how many people go buy a bicycle, not knowing that all but the cheapest Kmart specials are entirely metric? They get it home, and the first time they need to adjust something, they either have to own or buy metric wrenches. Some may gripe, but they will now be more familiar with metric fasteners and have some metric tools. (Ditto for cars, btw, except most people know they are metric.)
Point 2 � US metrication should be Educational.
Institutions of learning must banish all but SI from their works, and start treating WOMBAT as a second-class set of units, a fading legacy. Usage, not conversion, must be emphasized. The old Metric Information Office chart, detailing the inanimate-object perceptions of the familiar units, should be ubiquitous. US metric education should include a thorough demonstration of why our present units are a way of measuring badly.
Schools in the US are already teaching the metric system to essentially all students. I agree that they can do a better job of treating colloquial units as obsolete, and emphasizing usage rather than conversion. Paul, you offer no suggestions on how to change this. Also, are you suggesting we pass a law requiring private institutions post metric charts? If not, then what are you suggesting regarding making such posters ubiquitous?
Point 3 � US metrication should be Rational.
US metrication is political, social, and economic process, and it must be enacted in phases. A change in measurement in one area of life is going to change the method of measurement in other areas. The experience of other recently metricated nations (Canada, Australia, South Africa) ought to be carefully consulted in this and similar issues. While such planning is essential, so is prudence. Some changes might be best postponed for a long time, or even omitted. Common sense must rule.
You can only enact something in �phases� when it is �enacted.� The US is already metricating in an ad hoc, laissez faire fashion, where different parts of the economy are converting as the players in those industries see appropriate. Examples: the beverage industry, pet food industry, bicycle industry, electronic connector industry, pharmaceuticals, etc., have converted partly (pet food), to largely (bicycles) to almost entirely (electronic connectors). Other industries have hardly changed at all: dairy and lumber come to mind. They will, when those who work in those industries see economic justification in doing so.
To �enact in phases� would require wholesale control of metrication by the government, something that is unlikely in the extreme, and considered highly undesirable by many people, including me.
Notwithstanding the above, where the government must be involved with metrication (e.g., road signs), clearly we should learn from those countries that have already been through the process.
Point 4 � US metrication should be National.
Article I, Section 8, of the US Constitution provides that the Congress "shall have power ... to ... fix the standard of weights and measures;..." That the US Congress has ever fulfilled its responsibility under this article is debatable. Attempts at metrication in the US shall never survive such a metrological Civil War, with non-metric states bordering metric states. It must be a process as national as the Constitution conceived it to be.
The �metrological Civil War� could only happen if states have the power to mandate units of measure, which they do not, except in very limited areas. In most cases, private industries decide the units of measure to use, and some metricate while others do not. The customers then sort out what they prefer.
To interpret �power to fix the standards of weights and measures� as �power to mandate metrication� is the most extreme reading of this clause of the Constitution that can be taken. It is also highly suspect and guaranteed to be fought. Other reasonable interpretations:
(1) Congress has the power to mandate a measurement system (which they did a long time ago), but not to change it willy-nilly once they have done so.
(2) Congress has the power to �fix the standard,� meaning define what a kilogram is, what a foot is, etc., but that does not extend to requiring certain units be used, only what they are if they are used.
One other factor is the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. Putting labels on products is a type of �commercial speech.� While Congress has more power to regulate commercial speech than private speech, it is not unlimited. The Supreme Court has ruled that, before Congress can mandate something on a label, it must show that the problem being addressed by the mandate be real, that it is significant, and that the mandate is the least coercive method of addressing the problem.
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I remain convinced that the US is already metricating � I see new metric products just about anytime I visit the store: groceries, bicycles, gas grills, and on and on and on. Manufacturers are no longer scared of a consumer backlash of putting metric into products, and (in general) are aware of the benefits of metricating. So, the process will continue and it will accelerate.
And, I remain convinced that those of you looking for some government �magic bullet� to metricate the US overnight are going to be sorely disappointed, for several reasons:
(1) There is no real call for it from the populace;
(2) There are significant legal and constitutional barriers to it, as least significant enough to mount court battles over it;
(3) There are many people with vested interests who do not want government metric mandates:
The US is metricating, and the process is accelerating. We do not need more government, we just need patience and persistence.
Electrical Engineer
Industrial manufacturing manager
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
www.qsicorp.com
