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| why is the US not Metric |
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| KL27x:
The majority of people who live and move to America are completely fine using both imperial and metric. The ENGLISH speaking metric-only world is probably the most pissed off. English-speaking media, is fairly well dominated by imperial units, still (and it's not just America doing it).* Especially upset, I imagine, are the citizens of countries which changed under the assumption that the entire world would use ONLY metric within 10 years. Like they were saying even in American schools in the 70's, at least. You can see this even in the road signs the metricated countries use. It's completely stupid (IMO) to change units and not even put the new units on your sign. The red circle thingie is the same red circle sign they use in UK! At least if you drive from France to UK, the numbers are lower (and safer). In Australia they put little gold signs saying "KM" on the new kilometer distance markers. But.... They paid more money to go and REMOVE them after "a sufficient transition period." Why? You put them up? They are correct? They add information? Why not leave them? And Americans are stupid. Australia did the metrication right on the heels of the huge success and improvement of decimal money. I think they might confuse the benefits of the one with the other. (Metric better. Yes. Daily life? Show me what that did for you other than give you a migraine and fits when you watch TV). America changed to decimal currency more than 200 years ago. And Americans are acutely aware of the additional benefits of changing to metric for daily life. It's... not much. And there's no point, in the majority opinion. *The visibility of imperial in media is exaggerated due to artistic reasons. We like to argue that Manny Pacman Pacquio is "pound for pound" the best boxer in history. We use imperial units in our language. Imperial units thus pop up more frequently in English speaken media than metric units do from metric english speaking country's media. And we're sorry your governments lied to your about the 10-year thing. If you watch American football, you hear the word "yard" every play. In basketball, Curry is hitting a "33 footer." Here, "footer" is a noun meaning a shot, but also denoting the units. I dunno how you even would do that with meters, in english. That "-er" on the end limits it. In Australia, if you ever do watch sports, is this reversed? Do soccer commentators frequently state distance of a goal in meters? Do they state long 3 pointers in basketball in meters? Because in America, if I watch soccer? I can watch an entire match without hearing the word meter. This makes me curious if Australian commentators and sports fans use the word "meter" much less frequently than ours use "feet" just due to the names. I wonder if "meter" somehow is not as "flowy" or more distracting or less immersive in some subtle way, due to linguistics of english. In American sports commentating, the units are all over the place. I mean commentators have to talk, almost nonstop. And the imperial units are maybe easy on the tongue and ears. :-// |
| Zero999:
To be fair, boffin was joking. Don't take it too seriously. Anyway why change the signs to kmph? It's not an SI unit. All road signs should be in m/s. I don't see how anyone can argue changing the road signs will solve all the US's problems. It's blatantly obvious they have far more important things to worry about! Spend the money on something like healthcare or education. |
| tooki:
--- Quote from: KL27x on December 16, 2019, 06:59:24 pm ---^FYI, no one dies of starvation in US. --- End quote --- I didn’t say anyone died of starvation. Obesity is the opposite of starvation. (I thought this was common knowledge.) Look up what a “food desert” is, ok? --- Quote from: KL27x on December 16, 2019, 06:59:24 pm ---Our safety nets are there. --- End quote --- Not in any meaningful sense. --- Quote from: KL27x on December 16, 2019, 06:59:24 pm ---They are just not as dignified and glamorous as most other first world countries. And there is a very good reason for that. --- End quote --- Yes, and that reason is simply because the US likes to shame the poor. Americans consider poverty a moral and character failing, rather than as the outcome of circumstance that it is, more often than not. --- Quote from: KL27x on December 16, 2019, 06:59:24 pm ---Americans are beyond moral shame. Give them a decent option of being a parasite, and they are happy to take it and raise families this way. W/e critera one must meet to qualify for the system, that information spreads. And people take a bus across the country to get to this state/system where they have heard people are getting hooked in. This is their new goal in life, and it becomes a lifestye for many. --- End quote --- An entire paragraph of mental emesis. All you did was, without using the catchphrase, to describe the mythical Welfare Queen. But other than a handful of (rightfully) noteworthy exceptions, it’s just a myth. It was never anything more than a political bogeyman used by the Republicans in the 80s and 90s (and now the 2010s), completely unsubstantiated by any kind of evidence. Welfare fraud is exceedingly rare, statistically speaking, and there’s no evidence of any widespread desire to become dependent on welfare. Remember, the social safety nets in USA SUCK. Living off it will never give you as good a quality of life as available from working. Additionally, a huge part of the people in USA who receive welfare ARE WORKING, and receive supplements because minimum wage simply isn’t enough to live ANYWHERE in USA any more, never mind with kids. |
| Zero999:
Blaming the poor for their poverty goes back to the Victorian era and still goes on today. Ideally, welfare should be an investment to get the poor into well paid jobs so they can pay all the benefits back in the form of taxes. Unfortunately there will always be a small group of people who are unable or unwilling to work, but it was always be a very tiny minority; far too small to be a real burden on the working population. |
| KL27x:
Australia: :wtf: You can use more than one measuring system? Canada, Britain, China, US: :-// Yeah. Australia: :palm: Why didn't I think of that? Rest of english-speaking world: It's ok, little brother. You chose wisely. I mean, if we could have only one, we would have chosen metric, too. ...And if you learn to speak Russian, German, Japanese, or French, you have the units down, already! |
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