A libertarian strategy for promoting the metric system
- Metric Tags:
Step 1 - Do some research and admit that the Metric System of weights and measures is in fact mathematically and economically superior, and that it sucks how most American consumers still don't prefer it - because if they did the businesses would obviously switch. Set aside a tiny fraction of your online time to research the issue further and debate it with others.
Step 2 - Use something like Google to check if there's an existing libertarian strategy for promoting the Metric System without resorting to government force. If you can find one, feel free to borrow some ideas. If you don't, feel free to initiate your own, which is exactly what the author of this forum post is now doing.
Step 3 - Take individual responsibility for your own behavior as a consumer, which probably doesn't tilt a single penny in favor of the Metric System. You alone will not change the world, but your own reputation will record your efforts to make the world a slightly better place.
Step 4 - Come up with a personal plan for "tilting a penny" (so to speak) in favor of the Metric System. If you run a business that produces physical goods, then what you can do is rather obvious. If you are a consumer, as all of us are, this means exerting just a tiny bit of effort to do your part to profess your preference for the Metric System. If you see two identical products, one priced in pounds and the other in kilos - simply buy the latter!
Step 5 - Set aside a few minutes each month to write a letter to one company whose products you consume. The first letter you write will probably take you longer, but you can then just copy and paste chunks of it for subsequent ones. Tell them how frequently you buy their products, what you like about them, and what you dislike. This is an opportunity to kill multiple birds with one stone by mentioning any number of things in your letter in addition to what weights and measures you think they should use. For the purposes of this issue, the essential thing to mention is that, all other things being roughly equal, you would buy their competitor's products if they switched their labeling to the Metric System first. The company will probably just ignore your letter, but you're not just writing it for them, you're writing it for yourself and your reputation as well.
Step 6 - In addition to mailing or e-mailing this letter to the company, also post it on your blog (and/or another publicly-accessible corner of the Internet, like the FTL forum) for others to see. This is how consumer activism campaigns, even one as small as this, can grow and turn into larger movements, but even if they don't - you'll still have the bragging rights for doing the right thing, even on this minor issue.
Step 7 - The next time a socialist tries to point at America's use of ye olde Imperial system of weights and measures as supposedly an example of "market failure", or mockingly asks you how many slugs there are in a bushel of apples, tell her that you are doing your part to promote the Metric System, combined with the rest of the libertarian lecture for why government interventionism would have been bad.
Step 8 - As more and more companies voluntarily make the switch, you will be able to claim some small part of the credit, and use it to motivate others to join other consumer activism efforts to gradually make the world a slightly better place. Sure, a revolution could have made those changes faster, but at what cost?
« Last Edit: February 09, 2010, 11:32:54 AM by Alex Libman »
