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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTucker Carlson: "The metric system is a globalist plot."
Last edited Thu Jun 6, 2019, 11:40 AM - Edit history (1)
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/06/tucker-carlson-the-metric-system-is-a-creepy-new-world-order-plot/...
But according to Carlsons guest, self-proclaimed anti-metrite James Pinero, the metric system should be feared because it is the original system of global revolution and new world orders.
Esperanto died, but the metric system continues, this weird, utopian, inelegant, creepy system that we alone have resisted, said Carlson. How long can we hold out against it, would you say?
...
Pinero further noted that all customary measures use man and his labor as the basis of the measurement. What is an acre? It is the land that an ox and can till in one day. 5,000 paces, a pace of 5,000 feet each. A meter is what? The globe that is not even accurate. He added that the use of base ten in the metric system is what remains of the radicalism not great for measuring things in the real world. There is a reason why the measurement system has 12, eights and 60s. It comes from ancient knowledge, from the Romans, from the Babylonians.
1.
The meter is not defined by Earth. It used to be defined by the length of an arbitrarily made rod whose length in turn was chosen based on the calculated circumference of Earth. Nowadays it is defined by light-speed and a quantum-mechanical parameter of the Caesium-atom.
If we want to explain to aliens what a meter is, we can simply say: "Well, do you have photons and a Caesium-atom?"
How would you explain to an alien what a foot or a mile is?
2.
Unelegant?
If you have a volume that is (((1 inch * 1 foot) + 1 acre) * (1 mile + 1 pace)) + 1 gallon, then how many pounds of water is that?
3.
Yes, there is a reason why ancient middle-eastern cultures prefered numbers like 4, 7, 12, 60... The reasons are numerology and astrology.
Why do we have 7 days in a week? Because a human can see 7 "planets" with the naked eye from Earth: Sol, Luna, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.
Why do we have 360° in a full circle? Because egyptian astrologers divided the horizon into 36 segments (look up "horoscopes" ) and then divided each segment in 10.
For f**k's sake. A self-declared expert on metrics and doesn't know basic stuff about metrics.
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,539 posts)The French originated the meter in the 1790s as one/ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the north pole along a meridian through Paris. It is realistically represented by the distance between two marks on an iron bar kept in Paris. source
underpants
(182,279 posts)Voltaire2
(12,626 posts)recent retirement of the physical kg. Both have been replaced with reproducible physical definitions. The kg is now defined using meters, seconds, and the Planck constant. The meter is defined by the distance traveled by a photon in a vacuum.
GetRidOfThem
(869 posts)The weight of one square meter of water is exactly one ton, which is 1,000 kilograms... It (the metric system) is a neat and comprehensive system...
mopinko
(69,806 posts)americans.
bbrady42
(173 posts)In areas where it's simply used (science labs, track and field, soda bottles, etc...) we get used to the numbers and it makes sense. We know what 2 liters is because we see 2 liter bottles all the time. Runners know how far it is to run 10K or 5K.
But those same runners would probably be confused if told that the speed limit driving the same road was 40kph.
mopinko
(69,806 posts)a couple of lab jobs.
never did get used °F/°C tho.
do still do a conversion in my head, but they are second nature.
BruceWane
(345 posts)1000 kilograms = 2204.62 pounds (2000 pounds = 1 ton)
underpants
(182,279 posts)Don't listen to them, they'll tell you lies and have crazy ideas.
The metric system? Must have been a slow news day over at Fox.
Voltaire2
(12,626 posts)weights and measures are all defined using metric weights and measures.
Tanuki
(14,893 posts)Hard to believe he could be that stupid.
BruceWane
(345 posts)If he's acting, he deserves an Emmy. A very convincing performance.
Blues Heron
(5,898 posts)don't mind liters or kilos though. Hybrid system for me.
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)and practice his Ideological Boofing (R).
RedParrot
(112 posts)Tucker keeps the same facial expression no matter how idiotic the comments made by a guest.
Another slow news day at Fox.
DanTex
(20,709 posts)mart48
(82 posts)NCjack
(10,279 posts)worked as a carpenter, he got along just fine with the Roman system of measures, which had no "zero". If the Roman system was good enough for Jesus, well it is good enough for me. When we dump "zero", we completely wreck the metric system, which was the first Communist plot to wreck our economy. Let's do all of new fangle ideas. Outlaw logarithms. Change pi back to 3, and change e back to 3. Make math easy again. Easy enough for drunken frat rats.
SMoss
(112 posts)The envoy from France carrying the standard meter and Kgm was captured by pirates.
Ramsey Barner
(349 posts)In 1866, the U.S. Congress authorized the use of the metric system and almost a decade later America became one of 17 original signatory nations to the Treaty of the Meter. A more modern system was approved in 1960 and is commonly known as SI or the International System of Units."
[****]
In 1975, Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act, which declared metric as the preferred system of the United States, and the U.S. Metric Board was created to implement the conversion.
[****]
Metric supporters argued the road signs were a crucial step in helping Americans get over any psychological blocks to switching measurement systems. But Republican Charles Grassley, then a congressman and now a senator from Iowa, killed proposed federal regulations that would have forced states to put up signs in kilometers.
"Forcing the American people to convert to the metric system goes against our democratic principles," Grassley declared in June 1977.
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2015/07/us/metric-road-american-story/
yardwork
(61,417 posts)infinite_wisdom
(73 posts)he needs a wide variety of meds and a long stay in a "facility". He shouldn't be walking around in society at this point.
I remember back in the 70's there was a push to move the US to the metric system. They started teaching it to us in school. The whole thing seemed much simpler than our bizarre system from the 1500's or whatever that required people to carry around conversion tables in order to do a simple math problem.
But industry didn't want to put in the effort into switching and then the conspiracy theory loons crawled out from under their rocks and started ranting about how the metric system was part of the Anti-Christ's plan to move us to a one world government. The rapture was imminent, and those left behind would suffer the horrors of drinking from liter bottles.
Now we stand with Liberia and Burma as the only countries who haven't switched over. Pure genius.
mopinko
(69,806 posts)imho, not to be to ct about it, the saudis were behind the smearing of carter, and the tanking of the american economy. his prescience on energy and the future of oil scared the bejezuz out of them.
cuz, really, when have americans not wanted math to be easier?
the split reality started there, got worse under st ronnie of raygun, and it has gotten worse every day since.
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)DetlefK
(16,423 posts)The word "algebra" is derived from an arab expression refering to fractions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebra#Etymology
The word "alcohol" is derived from an arab wordplay that eventually came to mean "essence".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol#Etymology
"Alcohol? Them Arabs are now in our beer!!!"
Response to DetlefK (Original post)
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joe_stampingbull
(165 posts)It comes from the Middle East of course. He will go catatonic if he finds out it wasn't invented by white people.
TheBlackAdder
(28,073 posts)LastDemocratInSC
(3,625 posts)Dear God, please let this item be from an article in The Onion. Amen.
Botany
(70,291 posts)The metric system is socialist and European ...
mcar
(42,210 posts)Math is a terrorist subject.
Turin_C3PO
(13,650 posts)Because if so, hes doing a bang up job of it.
zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)I mean, yeah, there were those influences. But the truth is that numbers like 12 influenced numerology because of their obvious utility. 12 is a highly divisible number. 2,3,4, and 6 can all divide 12 evenly. 10, not so much. When you're selling eggs, a dozen becomes a useful quantity.
The clear advantage of the metric system is its clear definitions. But the truth is, most people don't have much of a need for that feature. The order of magnitude relationship is cute, but not all the useful. One should always work in a single, consistent set of units. If on is going to work in meters, stick to meters. Too many errors and misunderstandings evolve from switching units.
And one will not find alot of physical constants or features in the world that are clear order of magnitude functions, or evenly divisible by 10. Pi, e, gravity, light years, Avogadro's constant, etc. are all very important numbers and none are evenly divisible by 10. Some are even "irrational" numbers.
The world is constantly inventing new units for their utility, and they rarely fit neatly into the metric system. conversely, they constantly invent new ones because the metric system frequently does not serve them well.
Paladin
(28,204 posts)The metric system as a globalist plot? How many decades have right-wing crackpots been flogging that stupid notion?
DFW
(54,055 posts)Though it's always possible he may have gleaned some knowledge of fast food from Trump that he is keeping in reserve for a slow news cycle.
Thekaspervote
(32,606 posts)Cosmocat
(14,543 posts)they know they can spin anything, not matter how simple minded, and 40% of this country will get behind it.
CanonRay
(14,037 posts)Johonny
(20,683 posts)FOX noise hasn't advanced much from those times.
keithbvadu2
(36,367 posts)Shouldn't we still be using cubits?
Ramsey Barner
(349 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,575 posts)Initech
(99,914 posts)robbob
(3,514 posts)Many years ago, when I was barely a teenager. Everyone is now comfortable referring to distances in kilometres, 24 degrees means summer is finally starting, and the meat at the supermarket is measured in Kilos, BUT...
Ask someone how tall the are, or how much they weigh. Almost everyone young or old will give you the answer in feet and pounds. I dont understand it, but thats how it is.
Mosby
(16,168 posts)Blue Owl
(49,918 posts)n/t