Americans reject metric because we do not like being managed by people who think human life should fit inside a decimal chart. The imperial system is inconvenient, irregular, historical, inherited, local, practical, and stubborn — which is to say, American. Metric is tidy, rationalist, French, centralized, and soulless. Yes, scientists use it. Fine. Let them. But ordinary people measure life in miles to grandma’s house, pounds of beef, gallons of milk, feet of lumber, and 72 degrees on a beautiful day. Washington’s Dream was not efficiency. It was liberty. Keep the yardstick. Annoy Europe. Defend America.
Make sure you don't live in a glass house before throwing those stones. And America invented the automobile and established the conventions for "the rules of the road." So freaking England has to have things differently so they make everyone drive on the wrong side of the road. (at least they keep the pedals the same)
"Make sure you don't live in a glass house before throwing those stones."
When a group of countries hang together to prevent our military from using our bases in their countries (from which they derive good revenue and protection) during a serious skirmish happening in their backyard, lobbing a few stones their way is fully justified, and frankly, a kind response to what they deserve.
At least Starmer is gone but his replacement isn't much different.
When I was at a dinner in the UK with about 10 Brits, I jokingly said, "why do you drive on the wrong side of the road?". No one was amused. I guess they don't like their systems questioned.
Joe, I'm pretty sure those Brits are sure that it is we who drive on the wrong side. They're pretty sure they are superior in just about any manner you can imagine. They must be superior to us because every cable network seems to think you have to have the British accent to sound/look intelligent!
I spent two years in Germany in the army and have traveled extensively over the years. I’ve enjoyed Europe although I don’t think I want to go back due to the Moslem invasion. I don’t think this American hate of Europe is any more justified than the European hate for American. There is nothing hateful about being different
Historian Alan Schom in his "Napoleon Bonaparte" (biography, 1997, recommended!) glossed over the Vendee rebellion in France (1793–1796, ending eight years before Napoleon became France's emperor in 1804). Thank you, Don Surber, for telling about the consequences. WHY wasn't this event ever written up as a major French civil war?! The casualties suffered were as severe as the American Civil War (1860-1865)!
They shouldn't speak English. My youngest,when he was 7 or 8 used to laugh at television when the French said "Oui oui!", so I picked that one. I never got past being 11 either. I went to France. The people I met were mostly snobs. I went to England, Scotland, Spain, Slovakia, and other countries; they were pleasant, friendly, and helpful. Oh, I went to Quebec a while back. They yelled at me louder in Canuck French when I couldn't converse with them. France should adopt Quebec, and we should adopt Alberta, PEI, and any of the other provinces that see the big picture developing. Just saying. I love this column. What a way to start a Monday. I feel better already.
When I was young & single, I recall seeing TV Ads for Canada where they tried to show how inviting Canada was - "come to Canada". So I took a driving trip on my own - the Canadians in the French speaking areas were snobbish & rude - even employees in restaurants. Much different in the English speaking areas like New Brunswick & Nova Scotia (God's country - would drive for hours and not see another car). I was invited on 2 occasions to spend the night at their homes instead of a motel.
We also seem to speak louder and more slowly when some foreigner doesn't understand the English we're talking to them in. One of these days, maybe we'll learn that doesn't help
I have taught embroidery classes in countries which use the metric system. My instructions are all in our imperial system. I explained to my students that we tried to convert to the metric system back in the 70s and it lasted about a week. I let them figure out the conversions on their own.
As to the DR and baseball players - the church I attend has a mission there and we send groups of parishioners (the youth group goes during the summer) several times a year to do things like build churches and houses, paint, do electrical wiring and plumbing, etc.
Our priest told us a story about kids there playing baseball using sticks and bottle caps. His point was that they had almost nothing but were happy. But he also pointed out that, if you can hit a bottle cap with a stick, hitting a baseball with a bat comes easily. And that’s why there are so many MLB players from the DR!
The metric system is enforced by the same leaders who think it’s a good idea to purposely import millions of non assimilating violent mooslim cultists into their countries with unarmed native populations and then blame natives for becoming victims. There you have it.
Gary, you could be talking about at least half of America, including those who supported Biden/Harris/Obama.
Personally, in my neighborhood, I am seeing more and more homeowners who are wearing hijabs. They have the crescent and star symbol hanging in every window. The invasion here is just being conducted more quietly.
I agree with you. They use freedom of religion against us. The only way I see of destroying mooslim cultists in the U.S. is by declaring sharia what is, a political system enforced with violence and start closing their mosque political headquarters, declare all followers as insurrectionists and begin deportation procedures.
The left has always known to use our own strengths and values against us. I think our biggest vulnerability is our inclination to always pull for the underdog. The left has always been able to maneuver that human strength into a weakness that can be turned against us.
I took French in college because my girlfriend at the time was also taking it. She left one summer to be an au pair for a wealthy couple in the south of France and came back a year later, a smoker with sketchy hygiene who stopped shaving her armpits. Her French, on the other hand, was immaculate. Merde.
They created the EU solely to compete with the USA. But the USA is compromised of 50 states who share the same culture, language and history.
The EU, on the other hand, is comprised of multiple nations, all with different languages, cultures and histories, who surrendered their sovereignty to a centralized government of unelected elites. What could go wrong?
Dear Lord how I miss real comedy like that SNL skit! It is true funny, and laughter is such a blessing to the soul!
Was thinking: Today we are battling Iran over their nuclear project, but what happens should England and France - both nuclear powers -fall to their Muslim hordes? Scary prospect. And not out of the realm of possibility.
The governments of the European Union are already moving against radical Islam. Integrate or leave.
Borders are closing. Sharia is seen as what it actually is: not a religious belief but an alternative political and legal system.
If there is one thing that all politicians agree on it is that there cannot be an alternative equivalent source of power, sovereignty and law within the state to theirs.
The mass rape of a quarter of a million British children ignored by a series of complicit administrations at all levels and both sides of the political spectrum has ensured that this will happen. It can no longer be hidden. Even here in New Zealand there is outrage. Of course our official media are ignoring it. That does not matter any more. The majority of people still know and are sickened.
In the United Kingdom the consequences at the highest level are now inevitable.
It has destroyed the political career of Keir Starmer.
And the guy who’s purportedly next in line to Keir is just as bad if not worse!
And where exactly do you see the governments of Europe or the UK moving against Islam? It’s actually quite the opposite, as recent events have made more than abundantly clear. In the UK Muslims control multiple majority levers of power in government and townships across the country already. Not to mention the government itself being almost entirely dependent upon the largesse of Qatari money.
Reversing the damage already done will more than likely end up being a bloody affair. I pray not, but it will make what’s happening here against our ICE look like a walk in the park. That’s IF they ever even get around to deportations. We shall see.
Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, even France. The UK will soon follow. Voluntarily repatriation is on the table. Borders are being enforced. Refugee status questioned. Things are changing at a fundamental level. It is all a bit like bankruptcy, gradually then all at once.
I also expect the EU to change or collapse by the end of this year.
Certainly this will be encouraged if the Republicans win the midterms.
I don’t think it will be bloody, although the history of Europe does not rule that out. (As Surber pointed out today when the Vendee challenged the revolutionary government in Paris, they lost and 200,000 died.)
The Edwardian age was glorious, wealthy and at peace.
It ended in WWI.
Let us hope that in this case history does not repeat.
First, I loved the poll today! Voted for “Soccer blue”, which I think was a hilarious bastardization of “Sacre Dieu”. But also loved “oui-oui” and “wurst”!
On a serious note, I did not realize that after the French Revolution, the government slaughtered 200,000 “devoutly Catholic peasants” in Western France—“25% of the population”. It’s been coming to me stronger and stronger, that these slaughters, by war or oppression, can have devastating long-term effects.
The recent slaughter of 40,000 Iranian protesters by the IRGC really seems to have cut the heart out of the segment of Iranians who—if they were still alive—would likely have risen up to reclaim the government of Iran by now.
We’ve also seen Britain in a state of collapse, failing to effectively stand up to the Muslim and Communist Left’s takeover of their country; let alone defending the 250,000 British girls that have been victims of the Pakistani rape gangs. Britain lost a huge number of their men who were soldiers in WWll (and WWl), men who, if they were alive today (or the sons they would have had and raised), would not be allowing this to occur.
I’ll never forget during China’s Tiananmen Square slaughter of protestors against Communism, thinking that they had destroyed the “cream of the crop” of an entire generation of Chinese youth.
So this slaughter of “devoutly Catholic peasants” after the French Revolution helps me understand part of the reason why Christianity faded in Europe.
These slaughters of a country’s “best people” reverberates for years in the generations of good people that were never born and raised because their ancestors were killed.
Makes me wonder if America’s losses of so many men during the Civil War have likewise reverberated down to the diminishment we have seen in our era, and made us more vulnerable to subversion by Communism.
Probably this is too broad a connection to make when so many variables come in to play. But we probably have underestimated the impact of the loss of large numbers of individuals who carried high-quality character traits.
Another fun fact: acres and miles are related. One square mile is 640 acres. A single square acre is an oddball measure in feet (209’+ x 209’+, IIRC), but 1/16 of a mile = 300’, and this is why typical American town grids are 300’ square (centerline to centerline of roads).
208.71032557x 208.71032557 to be exact ( nearly) take 5280x5280 and divide by 640 then find the square root to find out which pain reliever works best for you.
It’s Trump’s fault! Just kidding. To that Japanese guy- when was the last time Japan (or France or Haiti) went to the backside of the moon? All the measurements in the world won’t make you productive or to the moon & back.
You need to start watching more MLB games on TV because all the announcers do is provide you with one more interesting metric after another. Grok must be exhausted by the end of each game!
I have to either mute the announcers or listen to the other team's announcers who usually turn out to be just as bad. They just provide you with one irrelevant statistic after another. The lead announcer for my team, the Pirates, started off with them in 1979 as the backup Pirate Parrot, their mascot! Now, he holds the all-time major league record for being the announcer who broadcast the most losing games in history! He shows how proud he is of being a loser with every broadcast. I usually have to mute it or else his AI-generated never-ending list of worthless statistics will torture me to death.
You left out the part where there is an error in the original metric system. A cubic centimeter was supposed to have exactly the same volume as a milliliter. But it didn't. The discrepancy was slight, and it was corrected in 1964. By edict.
Americans reject metric because we do not like being managed by people who think human life should fit inside a decimal chart. The imperial system is inconvenient, irregular, historical, inherited, local, practical, and stubborn — which is to say, American. Metric is tidy, rationalist, French, centralized, and soulless. Yes, scientists use it. Fine. Let them. But ordinary people measure life in miles to grandma’s house, pounds of beef, gallons of milk, feet of lumber, and 72 degrees on a beautiful day. Washington’s Dream was not efficiency. It was liberty. Keep the yardstick. Annoy Europe. Defend America.
"But ordinary people measure life in miles to grandma’s house, . . . "
At least in Scotland, there is some semblance of imperial measures (from AI):
Road Signs & Speeds: Distances are measured in miles (and yards), and speed limits are in mph (miles per hour).
Draft Beer & Cider: By law, these are served in pints (or half-pints).
Body Weight: People frequently weigh themselves in stones and pounds. A stone is 14 imperial pounds.
Precious Metals: Gold and silver are still traded by the troy ounce.
Instead of measuring our weight in stones, we should throw them at France and England.
Make sure you don't live in a glass house before throwing those stones. And America invented the automobile and established the conventions for "the rules of the road." So freaking England has to have things differently so they make everyone drive on the wrong side of the road. (at least they keep the pedals the same)
"Make sure you don't live in a glass house before throwing those stones."
When a group of countries hang together to prevent our military from using our bases in their countries (from which they derive good revenue and protection) during a serious skirmish happening in their backyard, lobbing a few stones their way is fully justified, and frankly, a kind response to what they deserve.
At least Starmer is gone but his replacement isn't much different.
Wow, I just returned from a couple week vacation and had no idea Starmer, the dirty rat fink, is gone! Good riddance!
Resigned but not gone yet. Its a British thing.
Haven't missed anything. He's resigning today. Andy Burnham, the former Mayor of Greater Manchester, is the front-runner to replace him.
Sadly, neither Churchill nor Thatcher were available this time.
Thanks Shrugged. I've been purposely avoiding the cable news fandango but obviously need to pay a little more attention.
When I was at a dinner in the UK with about 10 Brits, I jokingly said, "why do you drive on the wrong side of the road?". No one was amused. I guess they don't like their systems questioned.
Joe, I'm pretty sure those Brits are sure that it is we who drive on the wrong side. They're pretty sure they are superior in just about any manner you can imagine. They must be superior to us because every cable network seems to think you have to have the British accent to sound/look intelligent!
No, they are just tired of being asked the question. Remember, all life originated in the UK.
Bravo and AMEN!!!!
I also drink Coffee!
A great Monday read and start to my week!
Les Français... ils feront ce que leurs maîtres musulmans leur ordonneront de faire.
Les Britanniques... cela fait des années que c'est le cas pour eux.
Me…I’ll take America, with all its faults, is still better than the shithole formerly known as Europe, now Europistan.
May GOD Almighty continue to bless and protect President Donald J. Trump and these United States of America!!
APS
Just to remind everyone, Americans travel to Europe to see the past. Europeans (think World Cup fans) travel to America to see the future.
Nicely put J.N. !
As much fun as it is to go SEE another country, It is a blessing to return to American soil and know you are safely at home!!!
Amen
I spent two years in Germany in the army and have traveled extensively over the years. I’ve enjoyed Europe although I don’t think I want to go back due to the Moslem invasion. I don’t think this American hate of Europe is any more justified than the European hate for American. There is nothing hateful about being different
06/22/26: Thank you. You just cheered me up.
Historian Alan Schom in his "Napoleon Bonaparte" (biography, 1997, recommended!) glossed over the Vendee rebellion in France (1793–1796, ending eight years before Napoleon became France's emperor in 1804). Thank you, Don Surber, for telling about the consequences. WHY wasn't this event ever written up as a major French civil war?! The casualties suffered were as severe as the American Civil War (1860-1865)!
That says it all!!! God Bless American and God Bless President Trump!!!
Les Amen.
They shouldn't speak English. My youngest,when he was 7 or 8 used to laugh at television when the French said "Oui oui!", so I picked that one. I never got past being 11 either. I went to France. The people I met were mostly snobs. I went to England, Scotland, Spain, Slovakia, and other countries; they were pleasant, friendly, and helpful. Oh, I went to Quebec a while back. They yelled at me louder in Canuck French when I couldn't converse with them. France should adopt Quebec, and we should adopt Alberta, PEI, and any of the other provinces that see the big picture developing. Just saying. I love this column. What a way to start a Monday. I feel better already.
I did too.
Wife laughed.
Potty humor is the best
When I was young & single, I recall seeing TV Ads for Canada where they tried to show how inviting Canada was - "come to Canada". So I took a driving trip on my own - the Canadians in the French speaking areas were snobbish & rude - even employees in restaurants. Much different in the English speaking areas like New Brunswick & Nova Scotia (God's country - would drive for hours and not see another car). I was invited on 2 occasions to spend the night at their homes instead of a motel.
We also seem to speak louder and more slowly when some foreigner doesn't understand the English we're talking to them in. One of these days, maybe we'll learn that doesn't help
Maybe it's universal!!! Good thought, Cookie.
Thanks to D.S. I want to say insert cowboy joke Cookie.
Doesn’t hurt either.
I have taught embroidery classes in countries which use the metric system. My instructions are all in our imperial system. I explained to my students that we tried to convert to the metric system back in the 70s and it lasted about a week. I let them figure out the conversions on their own.
As to the DR and baseball players - the church I attend has a mission there and we send groups of parishioners (the youth group goes during the summer) several times a year to do things like build churches and houses, paint, do electrical wiring and plumbing, etc.
Our priest told us a story about kids there playing baseball using sticks and bottle caps. His point was that they had almost nothing but were happy. But he also pointed out that, if you can hit a bottle cap with a stick, hitting a baseball with a bat comes easily. And that’s why there are so many MLB players from the DR!
I recall an interview with Yankee player Mariano Rivera (who is from Panama) where he said his first baseball glove was made from cardboard.
The metric system is enforced by the same leaders who think it’s a good idea to purposely import millions of non assimilating violent mooslim cultists into their countries with unarmed native populations and then blame natives for becoming victims. There you have it.
Gary, you could be talking about at least half of America, including those who supported Biden/Harris/Obama.
Personally, in my neighborhood, I am seeing more and more homeowners who are wearing hijabs. They have the crescent and star symbol hanging in every window. The invasion here is just being conducted more quietly.
I agree with you. They use freedom of religion against us. The only way I see of destroying mooslim cultists in the U.S. is by declaring sharia what is, a political system enforced with violence and start closing their mosque political headquarters, declare all followers as insurrectionists and begin deportation procedures.
The left has always known to use our own strengths and values against us. I think our biggest vulnerability is our inclination to always pull for the underdog. The left has always been able to maneuver that human strength into a weakness that can be turned against us.
Amen to that!
Designate them terrorists, which they openly admit to being in their practice of their "religion" of death.
For now.
I took French in college because my girlfriend at the time was also taking it. She left one summer to be an au pair for a wealthy couple in the south of France and came back a year later, a smoker with sketchy hygiene who stopped shaving her armpits. Her French, on the other hand, was immaculate. Merde.
I hate it when that happens!
Let's see, we built the greatest country on earth. And they created the EU
Case closed
I was wondering what today's column would be.
They created the EU solely to compete with the USA. But the USA is compromised of 50 states who share the same culture, language and history.
The EU, on the other hand, is comprised of multiple nations, all with different languages, cultures and histories, who surrendered their sovereignty to a centralized government of unelected elites. What could go wrong?
The selling of the EU concept was by far the greatest and boldest snake oil con job ever told. And they bought it all.
Oh yes, what could go wrong!!!
Pronounced EEW!
Dear Lord how I miss real comedy like that SNL skit! It is true funny, and laughter is such a blessing to the soul!
Was thinking: Today we are battling Iran over their nuclear project, but what happens should England and France - both nuclear powers -fall to their Muslim hordes? Scary prospect. And not out of the realm of possibility.
and then there's always North Korea to add to the nuclear mix. I too miss real comedy, especially Johnny Carson!
Greatest tv show ever.
Carol Burnett was a source of many tears of laughter as well.
Not going to happen.
The governments of the European Union are already moving against radical Islam. Integrate or leave.
Borders are closing. Sharia is seen as what it actually is: not a religious belief but an alternative political and legal system.
If there is one thing that all politicians agree on it is that there cannot be an alternative equivalent source of power, sovereignty and law within the state to theirs.
The mass rape of a quarter of a million British children ignored by a series of complicit administrations at all levels and both sides of the political spectrum has ensured that this will happen. It can no longer be hidden. Even here in New Zealand there is outrage. Of course our official media are ignoring it. That does not matter any more. The majority of people still know and are sickened.
In the United Kingdom the consequences at the highest level are now inevitable.
It has destroyed the political career of Keir Starmer.
He is just the first.
And the guy who’s purportedly next in line to Keir is just as bad if not worse!
And where exactly do you see the governments of Europe or the UK moving against Islam? It’s actually quite the opposite, as recent events have made more than abundantly clear. In the UK Muslims control multiple majority levers of power in government and townships across the country already. Not to mention the government itself being almost entirely dependent upon the largesse of Qatari money.
Reversing the damage already done will more than likely end up being a bloody affair. I pray not, but it will make what’s happening here against our ICE look like a walk in the park. That’s IF they ever even get around to deportations. We shall see.
Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, even France. The UK will soon follow. Voluntarily repatriation is on the table. Borders are being enforced. Refugee status questioned. Things are changing at a fundamental level. It is all a bit like bankruptcy, gradually then all at once.
I also expect the EU to change or collapse by the end of this year.
Certainly this will be encouraged if the Republicans win the midterms.
I don’t think it will be bloody, although the history of Europe does not rule that out. (As Surber pointed out today when the Vendee challenged the revolutionary government in Paris, they lost and 200,000 died.)
The Edwardian age was glorious, wealthy and at peace.
It ended in WWI.
Let us hope that in this case history does not repeat.
BTW where would Noah have been without the cubit?
Treading water
Still cleaning out the bottom of that Ark - just like Bill Cosby said long ago.
Nice work, Don. You hit the nail on the head. Anything that dumbfounds the Euros is good bye me. Oui-oui on them!
First, I loved the poll today! Voted for “Soccer blue”, which I think was a hilarious bastardization of “Sacre Dieu”. But also loved “oui-oui” and “wurst”!
On a serious note, I did not realize that after the French Revolution, the government slaughtered 200,000 “devoutly Catholic peasants” in Western France—“25% of the population”. It’s been coming to me stronger and stronger, that these slaughters, by war or oppression, can have devastating long-term effects.
The recent slaughter of 40,000 Iranian protesters by the IRGC really seems to have cut the heart out of the segment of Iranians who—if they were still alive—would likely have risen up to reclaim the government of Iran by now.
We’ve also seen Britain in a state of collapse, failing to effectively stand up to the Muslim and Communist Left’s takeover of their country; let alone defending the 250,000 British girls that have been victims of the Pakistani rape gangs. Britain lost a huge number of their men who were soldiers in WWll (and WWl), men who, if they were alive today (or the sons they would have had and raised), would not be allowing this to occur.
I’ll never forget during China’s Tiananmen Square slaughter of protestors against Communism, thinking that they had destroyed the “cream of the crop” of an entire generation of Chinese youth.
So this slaughter of “devoutly Catholic peasants” after the French Revolution helps me understand part of the reason why Christianity faded in Europe.
These slaughters of a country’s “best people” reverberates for years in the generations of good people that were never born and raised because their ancestors were killed.
Makes me wonder if America’s losses of so many men during the Civil War have likewise reverberated down to the diminishment we have seen in our era, and made us more vulnerable to subversion by Communism.
Probably this is too broad a connection to make when so many variables come in to play. But we probably have underestimated the impact of the loss of large numbers of individuals who carried high-quality character traits.
One caveat: the real Iranians can't reclaim anything while they're unarmed.
Great comment.
Arguably the loss of so many Brits in WW1 set the stage for today’s weak leadership in the UK
This column is so funny I’m going to oui oui myself.
Another fun fact: acres and miles are related. One square mile is 640 acres. A single square acre is an oddball measure in feet (209’+ x 209’+, IIRC), but 1/16 of a mile = 300’, and this is why typical American town grids are 300’ square (centerline to centerline of roads).
208.71032557x 208.71032557 to be exact ( nearly) take 5280x5280 and divide by 640 then find the square root to find out which pain reliever works best for you.
It’s Trump’s fault! Just kidding. To that Japanese guy- when was the last time Japan (or France or Haiti) went to the backside of the moon? All the measurements in the world won’t make you productive or to the moon & back.
It just proves that if you give them a millimeter, they'll take the entire inch!
I like that!
i am 78. metrics bore me.
I’m bilateral, I use both Imperial and metric. 🤔
Do you have a month dedicated to you?
a multi-tasker i see.
You need to start watching more MLB games on TV because all the announcers do is provide you with one more interesting metric after another. Grok must be exhausted by the end of each game!
half the time i have the sound off. i watch the tiger on the internet...sound off ( again as a rule).
I have to either mute the announcers or listen to the other team's announcers who usually turn out to be just as bad. They just provide you with one irrelevant statistic after another. The lead announcer for my team, the Pirates, started off with them in 1979 as the backup Pirate Parrot, their mascot! Now, he holds the all-time major league record for being the announcer who broadcast the most losing games in history! He shows how proud he is of being a loser with every broadcast. I usually have to mute it or else his AI-generated never-ending list of worthless statistics will torture me to death.
There are two kinds of countries in the world:
Those that use the metric system.
And the one that put men on the moon.
You left out the part where there is an error in the original metric system. A cubic centimeter was supposed to have exactly the same volume as a milliliter. But it didn't. The discrepancy was slight, and it was corrected in 1964. By edict.
Don’t forget the slide rule also put men in the moon. I have my grandfathers slide rule from his chemical engineering days.
We were at the Huntsville Space Center recently. Amazing what was achieved with far less computing (and other) resources.
GO if you haven’t. All the folks there were celebrating our great country too.
I have one on the wall of my office. Everytime I cant fix a glitch in my computer I look up at it and wonder.
American engineers (mostly) using slide rules and sharp pencils.