Pounds over Kilograms

We’ve all had that time when someone says, “It’s _ meters long,” and we nearly ask, “What’s that in English?” While these moments can be passed off as funny anecdotes, they do raise the question of whether the U.S. should primarily use the metric system. Well, although there are pros and cons, there are superior reasons why we haven’t – and shouldn’t – convert. 

To begin, the cost of switching to the metric system would be far too much for the economy. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), calculations by Alabama say that switching every single road sign in the US as well as adding kilometer markers could possibly cost as much as 420 million dollars. This alone devastates many government operations and programs as the U.S. would have some trouble distributing resources for existing public services, such as medicare/medicaid or social security.

Furthermore, while major corporations could easily pay to switch, many small businesses would not be able to afford the possible thousands of dollars to switch their equipment, employee training practices, and/or labeling to the metric system. This could cause irreversible damage to the middle class and send small businesses into deep debt or even permanently shut them down. 

Of course, the 340 or so million people in the U.S., not just businesses, would be affected, too. If we fully switched to the metric system, think about everything around you that would change. A 5-pound dumbbell at the gym would suddenly turn into 2.26 kilograms. 60-mile-an-hour highways would become 96.56 kilometers an hour. A pound of chicken at the grocery store would become 0.45 kilograms. Getting used to all of these different things would be extremely difficult and tedious. It could result in potentially disastrous conversion errors, especially when buying or building on large scales.

What about international business or trade opportunities that might be overlooked because of the different measurement systems? Students confused by complicated conversions? These are easily solved by providing basic education of the metric measurements, which already happens. While U.S. customary units are primarily taught in schools, a small introduction to metric units is also included in most curriculums. Learning the metric system, as you should know, isn’t a hard task; tens are something that we’re accustomed to and familiar with. Even if you haven’t learned them, though, there are still an abundance of international trade opportunities, as shown through the current state of the U.S. We have acquired very useful technology and resources through these exchanges, and most of the time, the metric system does not prevent them.

In conclusion, there are far too many problems that would occur when switching to the metric system. As I’ve stated, this would be an extremely inefficient and difficult process, as it would cause certain companies to be put on hold and/or have to do much more work and cost a devastating amount of money for some groups. It would generally be very troublesome for all U.S. citizens to get used to the new units. Therefore, the U.S. should not switch to the metric system.