FWIW, I've heard it said that Europeans value social freedoms more, Americans value economic freedoms more. Hence in Europe you have unlimited speed limits (autobahns), no age limit on alcohol, long vacations, and bathing au naturel on the beach, all of which Americans would never tolerate. In America you have large houses, large cars, cheap gas, and very short vacations, all of which Europeans either have no interest or wouldn't tolerate.
This was the perspective of an Australian fellow I met once traveling in Europe. Nat -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of James R. Frysinger Sent: Thursday, 2004 February 26 18:16 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:28949] Re: American and European differences Excellent article, with broad-reaching implications, Jim. The "personal choice" ethos of Americans is why I would agree with you that politically forced metrication via government is the hard path to take and least likely to succeed. But that is also why I espouse (as I have here before) control and shaping of the available choices. Rather than our government passing laws to force metrication, it should merely repeal laws so as to de-legalize non-metric units. Let the lub, floozie, or tootsie be whatever Joe or Jane wants it to be. Give them the same legal stature as the infamous "two scoops of raisins" or a load of laundry. When people want to make sure that they conduct commerce (including buying food for their table) in terms that afford them legal protections, then they can only use metric units. Otherwise, they're on their own! For many purchases, folks use the "yay big" system anyway. They choose between large, larger, largest, and rediculous sizes at the beverage station in their favorite greasyburger stands with no thought in mind whether those sizes are defined in floozies or milliliters --- or nothing at all. But when a vendor has to tell the USDA what the nutritional profile of its product is, metric units would be the only ones available and those would be the only ones remaining as legal indicators on the packaging. Decreasing the number of laws and regulations has a basic appeal to most Americans, as the article implies. That's easier to sell to the voting public than increasing the number of laws or even merely changing them. Guess what, packagers! We're going to shrink the USDA, FDA, FTC, and other regulations manuals by deleting anything that refers to non-metric units. That's less homework for your legal beagles. Jim On Thursday, 2004 February 26 17:55, Jim Elwell wrote: > I've long maintained on this forum that US metrication should be > voluntary, while others, particularly some non-American members, have > vehemently preached that we should pass laws to force metrication onto > the American people. > > If you have an interest in the topic, you may find this short article > quite interesting. You can read it at the URL below, or it is attached > as a PDF. > > "Differences in American and European Worldviews" by Russell Berman, a > Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. > > http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/pubaffairs/we/2004/berman01.html > > > Jim Elwell, CAMS > Electrical Engineer > Industrial manufacturing manager > Salt Lake City, Utah, USA > www.qsicorp.com -- James R. Frysinger Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist Senior Member, IEEE http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Office: Physics Lab Manager, Lecturer Dept. of Physics and Astronomy University/College of Charleston 66 George Street Charleston, SC 29424 843.953.7644 (phone) 843.953.4824 (FAX) Home: 10 Captiva Row Charleston, SC 29407 843.225.0805
