I would like society to be open and free, I don't want to lose freedoms, etc., but all my life I have not had the choice of using metric exclusively in life, which is my preference. I have been forced to use imperial so many times that I am sick of imperial and want to choose metric, but society won't let me use metric all the way.
We need to have metric available in all areas to all, and those who choose not to use metric have had their day of non-metric being dominant in the UK and USA, now it is the turn of metric being dominant. You cannot have it both ways, a free society is good but when it has to regulate things one way or the other, for example, in the UK all road signs like speed limits on public roads, by law, have to be in miles per hour, even though I would prefer them to be in km/h like in most countries of the world, but the law forbids such a thing at present. That is regulation and control and a lack of freedom of choice. To have everything using just one system is what I would like to see, not because I oppose freedom or choice, because I believe in freedoms for all and where appropriate people should have choice, but choice must be limited within certain parameters otherwise we have chaos. For example, a hypothetical situation: if I choose to kill you, would you allow that, as you are pro-choice? Or would you want to say that is not acceptable, as some choices are not valid? Surely you would choose the latter, that there must be restrictions on society for the good of all.
As I see it, metrication is for the good of all and although it means non-metric users have less choice, it does not mean we have to have a fascist or totalitarian society. Most countries in the world went metric without altering freedoms of choice for people.
Another example, suppose I choose to speak in a language other than English? I might demand that right, and that all forms and documents that I have to use officially be in my chosen language, other than English, but they cannot be because it is impractical. My only choice then would be to do everything in English.
Basically, you have to remember that choice is limited by restrictions, and that metrication is not against choice, it is about harmony. Harmony means we all use the same measurement system so that we all understand each other, to promote the betterment of society.
I hope you reconsider your position on metrication and realise that it does not mean trying to control people nor telling them what to think, but is rather a means to harmony within the world as a whole. There are many political issues in the world as it is which divide people, metrication should not be one of them.
David King
ewc wrote:
Hi Jim (Elwell)
Thanks for the voice of sanity - but I fear you are in a minority.
When I joined this group I was (mildly) pro-metric. But recent comments by many - including Pat, David and Phil - have been the last straw for me.
I will hence forward actively oppose metrification in a wide variety of contexts because I feel it is my duty in connection with the preservation of basic liberal values, and an open, anti-fascist, society.
That fool Orwell is dead so this fool will carry his protest on.
most sincerely
Robert Tye
