On Fri, 1 Jun 2001 13:22:12 Jim Elwell wrote: >Marcus writes: > >> Quite honestly? I don't see the US *really* 'metricating' at >> all. Those industries that have already done so, they have done >> so, the rest is just flip-flopping to the whims of those that >> complain the loudest. > >John (Kilopascal) has pointed out that 40% of American industry is metric >already. No one has disputed that. Yes, but the point was *when*. My argument is basically that practically no part of that 40% happened in the last 25 years! Give that it is true, and that 99% of the >rest of the world is already metric, I don't see how the US cannot become >metric. It has already been resisting that. Given that it's self-sufficient why can't it continue resisting for another 100 years?! It will take time, there will be backwards steps, but it will >happen. > Still, the burden of proof is on you. You're talking in the future tense, I'll grant you that. But in the present? Nah... >Guess I'm just an optimist! > Indeed! :-) >> ?? I sense some... paradox here. Why should governments be >> treated any differently from "private" individuals? > >It is called "property rights." > >I "own" part of the government (I pay *lots* of taxes) and therefore have a >say in how it is run. You do not own any part of my company, and therefore >have no business telling me how to run it (as long as I do so without fraud >or force or endangering public safety). >... ? But I'm not talking about 'property rights', I'm talking about *entities*. Besides, if you feel you 'own' the government as a taxpayer one can say that you are (even if indirectly) 'part' of the government *yourself* (therefore, by your own admission noone should have any business telling you - the government - what to do...)! But I did understand your rationale though. It's just that it still didn't adequately wholly address my discrimination argument. Sorry... Marcus Get 250 color business cards for FREE! http://businesscards.lycos.com/vp/fastpath/
