Metrication

[jakeroot]

I use centimeters when referring to my height here in Japan. It is more precise than half inches or whatever. It's also the local custom.

[Scott5114]

The bigger issue is that, as usual, Poiponen never responds to what someone says. I mean, look at his reply to JN Winkler.

There does seem to be a habit of many outside observers looking at some things the US does and going "no one else does that so that automatically makes it dumb and wrong". Poiponen can't really articulate his arguments beyond that idea.

I'd say the problem runs deeper than that–over in Fictional Highways he's advocating for milemarkers not resetting at state lines, because larger numbers are better, because he likes them more.

[US 89]

What I don’t get is why we can’t be comfortable with having different units for different contexts. It takes the same amount of brainpower to remember 32F is freezing as it does to remember 0C. That’s one of those things just about everyone learns in elementary school that actually sticks.

Most science contexts work this way already. All sorts of thermodynamic concepts rely on an absolute temperature scale that starts at absolute zero, so the Kelvin is the SI unit of temperature. It integrates with the rest of the SI unit system through fundamental laws of physics with things like the Boltzmann constant (k_B=1.38*10^-23 J/K) and ideal gas constant (R=8.314 J/mol K). So why don’t scientists just use Kelvin all the time and not Celsius? Because the units aren’t as useful. Everyone knows water freezes at 273.15 K, but do 305 K and 335 K really sound all that different? If you’re working in a lab, that’s the difference between a warm bath (89.5F) and a nice burn (143.3F). Those numbers do come out sounding pretty different in Celsius (32C vs. 62C).

The reason Celsius works so well for science is not necessarily that it’s defined by water freezing at zero, but that the unit is the same size as the kelvin. So you can just plug your Celsius numbers straight into any formulas that only require a difference in temperature (which is a lot). The zero point could be anywhere on the cold side of regular human experience and it would work just as well. But the scale was created during a time when water was a very common reference to base units off, so those 0 and 100 references stuck. (As another example, a gram was originally defined as the mass of one cm³ of water at its melting point, and that volume was defined as 1/1000 of a liter. Of course, those relationships aren’t technically true anymore because we’ve standardized our units more precisely and gotten better at measuring things. Turns out water actually has a density of 0.9998396 g/cm³ at its melting point, which is actually at 0.0000891°C…)

Ultimately, Celsius in science has the advantage of both being somewhat useful for regular human understanding and somewhat useful for more advanced math. If we’re just talking about how it feels outside, who cares about keeping the size of a degree the same as a kelvin? Might as well make the size of a degree a bit smaller and shift down the zero point to make it more accessible for typical human use. As I’ve said before, 0F to 100F is more or less a full range of regularly experienced temperatures in most parts of the world.

[kalvado]

Body height is usually quoted in centimeters in the world outside the U.S....

But notably not in Canada, which supposedly "went metric".

Supposedly.  I just bought a carton of milk for the morning here in British Columbia.  It's marked in millilitres, but the size happens to be exactly one US customary quart.  BTW, it's a local milk in a Canadian-made carton.

And I am in upstate NY eating a yogurt - I assume it's local one, branded by a us grocery chain - which is marked as 5.3 oz (150 g). Somehow, round number is on a metric side this time

[Brandon]

The bigger issue is that, as usual, Poiponen never responds to what someone says. I mean, look at his reply to JN Winkler.

There does seem to be a habit of many outside observers looking at some things the US does and going "no one else does that so that automatically makes it dumb and wrong". Poiponen can't really articulate his arguments beyond that idea.

I'd say the problem runs deeper than that–over in Fictional Highways he's advocating for milemarkers not resetting at state lines, because larger numbers are better, because he likes them more.

Some of them from unitary countries (like France or Finland) have trouble understanding that the US (and some other countries like Canada) is a federal country with sub-national entities that commonly do their own thing, very independently of the federal/national government.  This may be the case here.

[Poiponen13]

The bigger issue is that, as usual, Poiponen never responds to what someone says. I mean, look at his reply to JN Winkler.

There does seem to be a habit of many outside observers looking at some things the US does and going "no one else does that so that automatically makes it dumb and wrong". Poiponen can't really articulate his arguments beyond that idea.

I'd say the problem runs deeper than that–over in Fictional Highways he's advocating for milemarkers not resetting at state lines, because larger numbers are better, because he likes them more.

Some of them from unitary countries (like France or Finland) have trouble understanding that the US (and some other countries like Canada) is a federal country with sub-national entities that commonly do their own thing, very independently of the federal/national government.  This may be the case here.

China is a unitary country, despite having almost same size as US. Maybe China should become a federal county, setting every province its own flag, parliament and laws.

[hotdogPi]

China is a unitary country, despite having almost same size as US. Maybe China should become a federal county, setting every province its own flag, parliament and laws.

Are you suggesting something similar to the divisions of the Soviet Union?

By the way, for China, Hong Kong and Macau already do this.

[Poiponen13]

China is a unitary country, despite having almost same size as US. Maybe China should become a federal county, setting every province its own flag, parliament and laws.

Are you suggesting something similar to the divisions of the Soviet Union?

By the way, for China, Hong Kong and Macau already do this.

Divisions similar to US, of course.

[kphoger]

Maybe China should become a federal county, setting every province its own flag, parliament and laws.

You...  um...  clearly do not understand China.
Decentralization and diversity are not its hallmarks.

[Poiponen13]

Maybe China should become a federal county, setting every province its own flag, parliament and laws.

You...  um...  clearly do not understand China.
Decentralization and diversity are not its hallmarks.

I have thought that US should have more federal laws and federal sales tax.

[hotdogPi]

I have thought that US should have more federal laws and federal sales tax.

It's been slowly trending this way already from the country's inception to now.

[Poiponen13]

I have thought that US should have more federal laws and federal sales tax.

It's been slowly trending this way already from the country's inception to now.

Good 

[kalvado]

The bigger issue is that, as usual, Poiponen never responds to what someone says. I mean, look at his reply to JN Winkler.

There does seem to be a habit of many outside observers looking at some things the US does and going "no one else does that so that automatically makes it dumb and wrong". Poiponen can't really articulate his arguments beyond that idea.

I'd say the problem runs deeper than that–over in Fictional Highways he's advocating for milemarkers not resetting at state lines, because larger numbers are better, because he likes them more.

Some of them from unitary countries (like France or Finland) have trouble understanding that the US (and some other countries like Canada) is a federal country with sub-national entities that commonly do their own thing, very independently of the federal/national government.  This may be the case here.

China is a unitary country, despite having almost same size as US. Maybe China should become a federal county, setting every province its own flag, parliament and laws.

It's not so much about how country is divided - there are always  a few levels of subdivision. France, for example, has 3 levels of subdivision, as far as I understand - not unlike US with state/county/municipality structure.
It's more specific situation that US states have more authority than similar size subdivisions elsewhere; and that state authority includes vehicle regulation, issue of license plates and driver licenses/IDs (last one is slowly taken away by the federal government, though). Those functions are more centralized in other places, where things are regulated nationally.
As they told me in my school days, there are advantages and disadvantages for  both approaches. 

[Scott5114]

The 10th Amendment says:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

So, in theory, at least, the states have all of the powers, except where the Constitution specifically says they don't. (In practice, the Commerce clause has been used to grant the federal government all manner of powers it doesn't explicitly have, often regarding regulation of things that the Founders hadn't contemplated because they weren't an issue in 1776.)

[TXtoNJ]

Maybe China should become a federal county, setting every province its own flag, parliament and laws.

You...  um...  clearly do not understand China.
Decentralization and diversity are not its hallmarks.

Absurd statement.

"The mountains are tall and the emperor is far away" still holds in the PRC.

[kphoger]

Maybe China should become a federal county, setting every province its own flag, parliament and laws.

You...  um...  clearly do not understand China.
Decentralization and diversity are not its hallmarks.

Absurd statement.

"The mountains are tall and the emperor is far away" still holds in the PRC.

You're saying that each province might choose to design its own flag, establish its own parliament, and pass its own laws–no matter what Beijing says?

[JayhawkCO]

Maybe China should become a federal county, setting every province its own flag, parliament and laws.

You...  um...  clearly do not understand China.
Decentralization and diversity are not its hallmarks.

Absurd statement.

"The mountains are tall and the emperor is far away" still holds in the PRC.

You're saying that each province might choose to design its own flag, establish its own parliament, and pass its own laws–no matter what Beijing says?

No kidding. Ask Tibet and Xinjiang about that...

[kalvado]

Maybe China should become a federal county, setting every province its own flag, parliament and laws.

You...  um...  clearly do not understand China.
Decentralization and diversity are not its hallmarks.

Absurd statement.

"The mountains are tall and the emperor is far away" still holds in the PRC.

You're saying that each province might choose to design its own flag, establish its own parliament, and pass its own laws–no matter what Beijing says?

According to wiki

The Guangdong Provincial People's Congress has enacted measures to increase democracy and transparency, and exert more control over the financial sector.

No mention of flag, though.

[Brandon]

Maybe China should become a federal county, setting every province its own flag, parliament and laws.

You...  um...  clearly do not understand China.
Decentralization and diversity are not its hallmarks.

I have thought that US should have more federal laws and federal sales tax.

No, no, no, and fuck no.

[US 89]

I have thought that US should have more federal laws and federal sales tax.

No, no, no, and fuck no.

Yeah, Poiponen’s statement is rather ignorant of how the US came to be as a country to begin with. We fought a whole war to not be governed by a singular faraway authority with no power closer to home. I am no expert on Finnish history, but as far as I know they’ve never had anything quite like that.

In fact, our first government under the Articles of Confederation had practically no federal power and really functioned more as an association of a bunch of separate countries. The downside to such a weak central government is it becomes next to impossible to get anything done as a unit, so some sort of compromise had to be reached, and that was what our Constitution gave us. Of course, give an entity power and an ability to increase that, and it will do anything it can to expand itself, so the scope of the federal government has expanded in a major way since then…

[TXtoNJ]

Maybe China should become a federal county, setting every province its own flag, parliament and laws.

You...  um...  clearly do not understand China.
Decentralization and diversity are not its hallmarks.

Absurd statement.

"The mountains are tall and the emperor is far away" still holds in the PRC.

You're saying that each province might choose to design its own flag, establish its own parliament, and pass its own laws–no matter what Beijing says?

Provinces have wide leeway to establish laws and policies to meet targets and goals set by the central government and Party, each with their own legislature. The central government only weighs into the intention of the laws - it's almost entirely hands off on the structure and mechanisms laid out within. China doesn't really do flags outside of the SARs, so that's a bit of a moot point.

Also @US 89 - Finland fought quite a few wars to be independent of governance from Moscow, so yes, they've had things quite like that.

[kphoger]

I... um...  clearly do not understand China.

[kalvado]

I... um...  clearly do not understand China.

Think about it in terms of practicality. Similar issues may be addressed on different levels, but not WAY different levels.
Managing 1 billion (China) or 0.3 billion (US) lives from a single location is impossible, there have to be levels of government. Those on a more local  scale should have power to make things happen locally. How those powers are delegated (originally local or delegated from the center), and how office holders (elected or appointed) is another story. 
House water and sewer have to be addressed at municipal to small regional level.  There may be some common denominators set by high level government, but location of the trench for the pipe is determined or approved by municipality,  maybe county - or their equivalents.  Vital records used to be local, but went up the scale once communications allowed  and increased travel required that.

[mgk920]

Maybe China should become a federal county, setting every province its own flag, parliament and laws.

You...  um...  clearly do not understand China.
Decentralization and diversity are not its hallmarks.

I have thought that US should have more federal laws and federal sales tax.

No, no, no, and fuck no.

The only way that I would consider a USA federal sales tax is if and only if the 16th Amendment were repealed.

Mike

[Bruce]

Sales taxes are regressive and hurt the poor far more than an income tax with closed loopholes. Trust me, WA is ranked number 1 in tax inequality because almost all our revenue comes from sales and consumption tax.