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The reaction would be the same as if anyone else proposed the idea...
It is great in theory, but the sheer cost to change all signs/gagues/etc. to metric is astronomical. We have more important things to spend money on as a country than new speed limit signs.
Is this really an issue of importance to people? The scientific community has been using the metric system for years. Does it really matter whether our road signs are in miles or kilometers?
Do you honestly think it worth the billions of dollars it would cost to change the signs over for no reason other than the "keep up with the Joneses"?
What matters is not what the standard of measurement is, it matters that we have a standard of measurement.
The question is not whether we wish to use metric or not, but whether we wish to use one system exclusively.
That about sums it up.
Almost everything is double labeled these days, and has been for quite some time. Most simply refuse to acknowledge one set of numbers, or the other. In the US we tend to have the standard system as the dominate system in our heads, so that is the number we look at, and pay attention too.
A perfect example is Greg W's post regarding a drive thru Canada. AFAIK, every vehicle built since the late seventies has had both MPH/KPH on the speedometer dial. Cars built for the US market has the KPH numbers, smaller, offset either above or below the standard MPH calibration in bold. It's all about what your eye is drawn too.
Anyone who wrenches on anything, professionally, or as a hobby built since the early eighties knows they're gonna need a set of metric, as well as SAE tools to get the job done.
It's been this way for decades now, no big deal really.
But of course we know the OP meant the entire topic to be a backhanded slap at Obama(or his detractors, not sure which, or if it even matters). Not that there's anything wrong with that, but in the future better examples to show his (alledged) socialist agenda should be employed.
They tried to cram that through back in the early 70's, under either Nixon or Ford (I don't recall which) and it was very negatively received. I believe the reaction would be the same now.
" Imagine if President Obama said the U.S. should move toward using the metric system. What would the reactions be like?'
Ballistic! Traitor! Anti-American! Elitist! Commies use the metric system!
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