(edited for length) --- Jim Elwell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Let's just say I am not nearly as pessimistic as you are about "stealth" > metrication giving any > ammo to the anti-metricationists, nor do I give so-called "leadership" much > credence on this > issue. Americans, for better or worse, are very independent-minded on some > things.... While I agree that the US is statistically more independent than other societies, the blanket characterization of Americans as just plain independent of authority sounds kind of like a stereotype to me. . . . I wrote "on some things" to try to avoid too wide a stereotype. I think most people the world over are independent on some issues, obedient on others. Since Americans are used to measuring how they wish to, it is not at all surprising to have some push-back on forced metrication. Wonderful! But you're in the electronics business. I think all of the engineering types I know are relatively friendly toward metrication. Quite true. You might have a harder time metricating a farm or an oil refinery. Farm -- just do it. Refinery -- large operation, even the owner has to deal with significant legacy issues. And in both cases, there may be regulations PREVENTING metrication. In electronics we are lucky to be free from almost any type of government meddling, positive or negative. . . . The question is whether companies with employees and leadership not particularly friendly toward metric will change without putting up a fight. That's the area where I think leadership at the government level could smooth things over. We generally agree, but the nature of the government "leadership" has a big effect: if it is mandates, there will be a lot of resistance. However, as I've said many times in the past on this forum, if the US Federal Government is the single largest purchaser of goods and services in the country, and if it simply said "we buy metric," it would have a huge positive effect on metrication, without passing laws on private institutions. Like I said, I agree with you on those points. Metric is inevitable and it's taking over one way or another. I just think there will be years of passionate resistance from certain areas of the population when that happens. And I think many (not all) of those people would resist less (they'd still grumble, but with less enthusiasm) if they were told by an authority figure that it's happening and they should accept it. I can't argue from any factual basis, but my feeling is that those who resist metrication the most would also be the most resistant to any authority figure mandating metrication. Jim ********************** Jim Elwell [EMAIL PROTECTED] 801-466-8770 www.qsicorp.com
