In the UK, metrication was industry-driven with the government providing the necessary legislation to ensure a “level playing field” for each sector of industry. Those industries who could profit from metrication (eg fewer production lines because the export model and the domestic model were the same or because costs could be reduced by having smaller inventories) supported metrication, while those for whom there was cost but little benefit (for example the market stall holders) dragged their feet. Then the politicians stepped in, especially those who were more concerned about getting publicity than in doing what was best for the country. They convinced the British public that metrication was forced on them by the EU and the government of the day meanwhile the government decided that it was prudent to save a few million pounds by abandoning metrication of road signs.
You guys in the US have a bigger problem – Republicans and Democrats are possibly evenly divided on the question, but you have 50 sets of politicians who are trying to prove a point with Washington, yet in the US, it is Congress who has ultimate control over weights and measures, but in the last 200 years they have done very little either in respect of metric units or in respect of customary units. From: USMA [mailto:usma-boun...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of Mark Henschel Sent: 24 April 2016 02:56 To: Martin Morrison Cc: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA 177] Re: eCreamery Uses the Metric System "Of Course" But the problem is that government is necessary to make the use of metric units legal, if not required. This is why it is so important to update the FPLA, for example. Mark On Apr 23, 2016 3:46 PM, "c...@traditio.com" <c...@traditio.com> wrote: Mark (Henschel)-- It is disappointing that latter-day Democrats, who claim to be "progressive," have been useless as far as promoting the metric system is concerned. The modern U.S. movement started in the 1970s with Republican Gerald Ford, but Republican Ronald Reagan slowed it down. However, businessmen of both parties are now largely in support of metrication because of international advantages. Barack Obama has been useless. Nevertheless, as I have written before, it may be best for the government to keep out of it and let business drive the movement. That way, there isn't the ignorant public resistance encountered. Metrication just happens without opposition. If the U.S. government were as efficient as the Australian government, we wouldn't have to worry, but in the last decade more more, the U.S. bureaucracy has become incompetent and corrupt. An example of recent conversation, without much government involvement, is the complete conversion of the lighting industry to the use of lumens and kelvins, driven by Compact Fluorescent Lights, units which had been virtually unknown to the public before, but you didn't hear any resistance to the conversion on January 1, 2015. --Martin Morrison _______________________________________________ USMA mailing list USMA@colostate.edu https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma
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