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What sets the U.S apart from the rest of the world?
The U.S. is one of only three nations in the world (the other two being Liberia and Burma) which clings to its outmoded system of measurement, failing to get on board with the rest of the world and use the metric system.
We don’t even use the British Imperial system (that the British don’t even use anymore) – we use some bastard child of the Imperial system called “the United States customary system.” Ask any American how many ounces are in a gallon or feet are in a mile and you’re almost sure not to get a correct answer.
What does this mean for you as an American? It means that when you travel you look like an idiot. When someone asks you for directions, you are suddenly at a loss, unable to estimate distance in kilometers. If one of your South American friends asks you how cold it is, you have no idea what to say. Is 30 degrees hot? Is it cold?
There are more communist countries than there are countries not using the metric system. Everyone else has come to the conclusion that it just makes for sense to use the system everyone else in the world is using in which all units are divisible by ten.
Just try to pass the right wrench to someone and you’ll see how stupid this system is. “I need the five sixteenths hex wrench. No! I said the five sixteenths!” Of course you did.
OK. Maybe it wouldn’t be cost effective to tear down all those mile markers, but just imagine the jobs it would create to start adding kilometer markers to every highway in the U.S. of A.
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Whaa, that’s crazy. As a commonwealth country Canada has been on Metric since before I was born in 1977. The only odd thing is that we still use pounds when referring to how much we weigh? Maybe to make ourselves feel better about weighing less than our neighbours to the South.
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Um… have you actually looked at the communist map you link to? Like, the one which shows among others East Germany, Poland, and (you can’t miss that one) the Soviet Union?
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The UK still uses the Imperial system too, for some day-to-day things:
Distance (road signs are in miles/yards but the roads people measure them in kms!)
Weight (shops have to sell in kg/grammes etc but people still think in lbs)The Irish Republic moved from miles to kms a few years ago – hopefully the UK will do the same one day, but they won’t because the majority of people will think it’s some trick to get them to join the EU…
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Switching to the metric system is far more of a problem than the Standard system.
Let’s look at it: If it’s not instantaneous, it will cause problems in the transition. Besides that it will need to be instantaneous thought change too. You cannot change the thought process of so many million people. But I digress…
Government passes a bill requiring this change in measurement. Now let’s assume that manufacturers, publishers, or anyone who mass produces products will make the switch. Now we have metric products out there; for example, cook books, operating manuals, small engines, construction hardware, etc. What happens when the consumers of these cook books, and so on, only have Standard tools? There are roughly 240mL in a cup. A cup has 8oz, 8 x 29.57 (that is if the person knows the conversion). Or small engines that are now metric, but once required a Standard socket set? Operating manuals for the same reason. Construction of buildings in Standard system are being repaired or getting add-ons that are now in metric. As mentioned before, roadsigns and maps will all need to be changed. Odometers will be in either metric, or Standard, but drivers might need to know information in the other measurement.
Sure these are little problems, but there will be millions upon millions of little problems.
So why bother when it is infinitely easier to keep the Standard system? And who cares anyway? What really bothers me is the way this article is written. Let’s paint these countries in a bad light because they still use the Standard system. I’m pretty sure that’s not slowing any country down.
And whoever doesn’t know the Standard measurements, in their respective countries, needs to go back to school.
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Puerto Rico has confused things even further….everyone here uses miles, and has no idea how far a kilometer is, but all highway distance markers are in kilometers!!!
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Switching products and tools to the metric system shouldn’t be that big of an issue. Most tools have both systems on them already, including measuring cups, measuring tape, odometers, and maps. A gradual transition could be painless.
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Puerto Rico, as a US territory, has to use the system the US tell them to do, but also has influenced from other latinamerican countries and also used the metric system. But this issue is not limited to distances, it also influenced in speed limits (mph vs kmph), weights (lbs vs kg), heights (ft-in vs m), temperature (C vs F), land area (sqm vs sqft) and volume (g vs l) among others. As some local politicians say, “We have the best of both worlds” but personally not too proud..
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The author makes a blanket statment that the US clings to an outmoded system of measurement. Outmoded by who? By the measurement police? Or maybe it’s because the author is unfamiliar with feet, miles, and degrees fahrenheit? Maybe it’s the author that really is the idiot here, when she travels to the US?
When I travel to another country, I don’t expect them to be using my familiar ways to measure things. I make sure I understand what their ways using kilometers and celcius. That’s just the way it is. Why should I make another country bend to my way of thinking? Just because the US and a few other countries use the imperial system, why should they change? Because majority rules? Or is it a small minority that is uncomfortable with something different and want to force their way of things on others?
I think the quote “she takes what she wants and leaves the rest” in the author’s profile kind of explains a lot about her attitude towards others.
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This is continually a source of frustration for me! Especially when it comes to the weather…
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Uhhh…Canada was able to do it just fine, as was the rest of the world. I think it’s just plain laziness and arrogant ignorance. Remember, the USA is also guilty of never even giving itself a NAME. The “United States of America” is the equivalent of the “Confederate Provinces of America” , which is what Canada would be if people had been too lazy to name it.
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