Hi, everyone, In the Letters to the Editor page of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, last Sunday, a metric supporter wrote:
Metric conversion can start with you On May 20, World Metrology Day (the anniversary of an international metric agreement), the metric system underwent a change that redefined its base units in terms of universal constants, reaching an unprecedented level of precision. It is also more universal, easier to understand and easier to use. Despite this, the United States is one of the last few countries that doesn't use the metric system officially. So why don't we? We don't use it here because the English system was preferred by Congress when it established the United States' official system in 1790. There have been attempts to metricate (make metric official) in the U.S. as early as the country's founding and as recently as 2015. Many of them have led to progress (food packages are required to be labeled with both systems and federal agencies use metric almost completely), but there are a lot of things that are still done with the English system, such as speed limit signs. These larger-scale attempts usually fail because of their cost. While it could be costly and difficult to make the United States fully metric, there are less costly solutions to the same problems. Further, it doesn't cost anything to start where it matters the most, with the individual. By thinking and working with metric units, people become more acclimatized to the world's system. Everyday people learning to understand Celsius, kilometers and kilograms would help bring the United States to the rest of the world. Aidan M. Redmond Fort Wayne The original is here: http://www.journalgazette.net/opinion/letters/20190602/letters-to-the-editor <http://www.journalgazette.net/opinion/letters/20190602/letters-to-the-editor> It’s interesting that in recent times the Wall Street Journal and Fox News have been telling us that the metric system is no good, but I keep finding grass-roots support for it from ordinary Amaricans. Best wishes, Peter Goodyear, Melbourne, Australia e-mail: [email protected]
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