The Metric System

liberalcynic

Hey, was wonder why the USA hasn't adopted the Metric System. It's as if you measure and weight everything as if you were in the 18th century. There are only 3 countries in the world which have not adopted it, one is the USA, and the other 2 are developing. Why can't SI units be used?

Pecker

Give us an inch and we'll take 1.609 344 kilometers.

Today's The Onion headline:
Rubik's Cube Solved With Hammer

jumbo747jet

Not to mention how many americans would finally be double digits ...

nudeyorker

US tried it in the seventies...Most Americans were too stupid to understand it!

I have worked and suffered and struggled my whole life to break out of show business!

x704

It's cuz we're different damnit... we like being in the company of Liberia and Myanmar(Burma). We's ain't gonna allow no world domination in the good ole USA. (that's all sarcasm)

Because it's hard to change anything. Our money is decimalized and always has been. The US Stock markets have only been decimalized to the penny for a few years (could be wrong there) before that everything was in 1/8ths. The Brits converted from Pounds, Shilling,Pence in the 1970's. I think One pound equals 20 shillings and 1 shilling equalled 12pence.
Change is difficult, and Americans don't like changes forced on them. But you can bet if some "nerd" from Silicon Valley "invented" the metric system we'd be all over it. homegrown and it sorta grows from there.

Just think how powerful we are. We can convince the whole world of 6Billion to sell us things with measurements they can't understand, and we're only 300(odd)million.

"‘Hi, my name is Gwen, and I’m here to wash your vagina."

x704

That alone should convince everyman to switch to the metric system

"‘Hi, my name is Gwen, and I’m here to wash your vagina."

jumbo747jet

I'm glad it was an american who said it and not me ...

SpeedoMike

The House and the Senate...

liberalcynic

You would say "give us a centimetre, and we'll take a 1 kilometre."

The Metric System works far better, and is much simplier. everything is in losts of 10s, whilst you have your 1000 thou(Proper English)("mil" in your bastardised" Americanised "English") to theInch, 12 inches to a foot, 3 feet to a yard, 220 yards to the furlong, 8 furlongs to the mile, 3 miles to the league.
All in lots of tens, simple, easy, and obviously better since every other country, except the USA and 2 other, have adopted since they've realised the benifits of having it.

nudeyorker

I'm an American Citizen now...but I was born in Switzerland!

I have worked and suffered and struggled my whole life to break out of show business!

liberalcynic

So there's a problem with education levels? So are you claiming the people of Iraq, Thailand, Tanzania, Zimbarbwe, Sudan have higher education levels than in the USA? Well if you elected Bush, It could be plausable.
You've also "dumb-ed-down" your English. It is so sad to have the word 'herb' sound 'h-less,' and see each adjective become a verb some how. Word's like Americanization, really should be spelt with a 's' Americanisation; (exempli gratia) Golabalisation, et cetera.

liberalcynic

It was as if it was only there for 2 week until aggrevation over adding and minusing zeros had started to become an unwanted reality, "lets use random numbers to measure stuff!"

dong20

I don't know if it was intentional, but (given the subject matter it addresses) the above is hilarious.

As for global metrication; it will happen one day, even if for no reason other than practicality. In your own time

The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth. ~ Niels Bohr

liberalcynic

I must admit I kinda pulled that out of my arse, its all apart of America's lazy stance towars academia....

nudeyorker

Why are you jumping down my throat...I was raised with the metric systme, I had trouble learning the Ameican system because I was used to metric.
My only point was Americans were used to the system that they had and had a difficult time adjusting to a new one.

I have worked and suffered and struggled my whole life to break out of show business!