Monday, August 8, 2016

j reacts to a way to understand why the tpp is not a free trade agreement

why is switching to the metric system never an issue in us elections?

i'm serious. they sign all these trade agreements that they pretend are about breaking down tariff systems. do you know how much money they could save by getting rid of the british imperial system of measurement?

surely, they must realize they've lost this war. and, it's nothing like vietnam, either. it's far worse. the rest of the world has moved so far past them on this...

i just want to see the reaction. i want to see the accusations from fox news. i want to see live interviews with people on the ground that think they're being invaded by france. and canada.

"british imperial system? no, we kicked them limeys out. i speak american, and i measure things in american."

"and they can take their statues and their fries with them!"

but, seriously. they'd save at least billions, overall, by not having to label and measure things differently for the us market. trillions, even - depending on your time scale.

"All countries except Burma (Myanmar), Liberia, and the United States of America have officially adopted the metric system, although Liberia has seen some introduction of metric units, and in 2013 Burma formally announced the beginning of its metrication program."

http://nypost.com/2015/06/04/presidential-hopeful-wants-to-put-us-on-metric-system/

i suspect americans don't really realize how expensive (and annoying...) it is for the rest of the world to convert things into eighteenth century units in order to sell things there, or how expensive it is for american producers to need to convert things into modern units for export.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/06/03/presidential-candidate-lincoln-chafee-wants-the-u-s-to-adopt-the-metric-system-because-politics/

not nineteenth century, guys. fucking eighteenth century.

if they really cared about common standards....

...if the free trade rhetoric wasn't just a bunch of propaganda...

what the fuck is a quart?

....and the only thing i've ever seen measured in ounces in my life is marijuana.