Re: Name 3 countries you'd consider inviting to join the United States
Holy Evil Ottoman, Batman!
Holy Evil Ottoman, Batman!
Ultimately sometimes governments have to spend money on things that aren't schools/hospitals/puppies that will benefit the country in the long term. In the case of the UK, the government saved quite a bit by simply changing the law on food labelling, forcing any cost onto those who made the packaging. Meanwhile, the government has stubbornly refused to change any of its own biggest source of imperial measurements, the roadsigns.
Well given the choice between spending my taxes on things like Health, Police etc.. and changing roadsigns to metric. I'll go with not using my taxes to change road signs to metric.
Then of course there is the other aspect that most cars in the UK have odometer's which show miles, speedometer's and whilst most speedometers show km it's in a smaller case so not always as easy to glance at.
But what benefit would changing all the roadsigns in the UK to metric be?
You don't want to cut unemployment down to Zero?
There's enough work for the entire country, there's just not enough work that the country is willing to pay for.
Besides if you try to pay 3 million people 15 to 20 dollars an hour for the next 5 years to convert all the road signs in America... The prisons are just going to underbid that contract because they can pay their labour forces 80 cents an hour.
Infrastructure is a problem with America. Sure there's busy work like this, but there's also probably millions of posted road signs that just plain actually have to be replaced for real reasons or outright planted in the first place.
Suppose there were 6,500 languages in the world (which there are). How does that help commerce? Shall we eliminate all those languages and learn to speak Esperanto? I'd rather have a world that's diverse and interesting rather than one that's homogenized and pasteurized.If there were 90 regions of the planet dedicated to different unique units of measurement, how would that make commerce better?That's a pity.As far as units of measurement are involved, the world is homogenized.
You don't have to go so far back into history to find that %99 of all the people in the world didn't know how to count past forty, rather than that there were thousands of isolated regionally specific methods of measurement.
At least we can put the NTCS vs PAL argument to bed.![]()
Suppose there were 6,500 languages in the world (which there are). How does that help commerce? Shall we eliminate all those languages and learn to speak Esperanto? I'd rather have a world that's diverse and interesting rather than one that's homogenized and pasteurized.If there were 90 regions of the planet dedicated to different unique units of measurement, how would that make commerce better?That's a pity.
You don't have to go so far back into history to find that %99 of all the people in the world didn't know how to count past forty, rather than that there were thousands of isolated regionally specific methods of measurement.
At least we can put the NTCS vs PAL argument to bed.![]()
Then of course there is the other aspect that most cars in the UK have odometer's which show miles, speedometer's and whilst most speedometers show km it's in a smaller case so not always as easy to glance at.
But what benefit would changing all the roadsigns in the UK to metric be?
Suppose there were 6,500 languages in the world (which there are). How does that help commerce? Shall we eliminate all those languages and learn to speak Esperanto? I'd rather have a world that's diverse and interesting rather than one that's homogenized and pasteurized.If there were 90 regions of the planet dedicated to different unique units of measurement, how would that make commerce better?That's a pity.
You don't have to go so far back into history to find that %99 of all the people in the world didn't know how to count past forty, rather than that there were thousands of isolated regionally specific methods of measurement.
At least we can put the NTCS vs PAL argument to bed.![]()
Suppose there were 6,500 languages in the world (which there are). How does that help commerce? Shall we eliminate all those languages and learn to speak Esperanto? I'd rather have a world that's diverse and interesting rather than one that's homogenized and pasteurized.If there were 90 regions of the planet dedicated to different unique units of measurement, how would that make commerce better?That's a pity.
You don't have to go so far back into history to find that %99 of all the people in the world didn't know how to count past forty, rather than that there were thousands of isolated regionally specific methods of measurement.
At least we can put the NTCS vs PAL argument to bed.![]()
Shall we eliminate all those languages and learn to speak Esperanto?
I'd rather have a world that's diverse and interesting rather than one that's homogenized and pasteurized.
But the truth is that such sentiments are merely excuses. Opposition to metrification has nothing to do with the loss of culture or opposition to homogenisation. It's based on the simple stubbornness of not wanting to adapt to a new system, even if it is simpler and more sensible.
Shall we eliminate all those languages and learn to speak Esperanto?
Bonvoro alsendi la pordiston, lausajne estas rano en mia bideo!
And I think we all know what THAT means.
So you don't want to live in a world of milk, then?I'd rather have a world that's diverse and interesting rather than one that's homogenized and pasteurized.
But the truth is that such sentiments are merely excuses. Opposition to metrification has nothing to do with the loss of culture or opposition to homogenisation. It's based on the simple stubbornness of not wanting to adapt to a new system, even if it is simpler and more sensible.
Like Windows 8!
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It will probably come to that....Suppose there were 6,500 languages in the world (which there are). How does that help commerce? Shall we eliminate all those languages and learn to speak Esperanto? I'd rather have a world that's diverse and interesting rather than one that's homogenized and pasteurized.If there were 90 regions of the planet dedicated to different unique units of measurement, how would that make commerce better?
You don't have to go so far back into history to find that %99 of all the people in the world didn't know how to count past forty, rather than that there were thousands of isolated regionally specific methods of measurement.
At least we can put the NTCS vs PAL argument to bed.![]()
What about if we spoke "Cityspeak" like in Blade Runner?![]()
I'm not talking about usefulness. A universal standard alongside cultural variations is perfectly adequate.Suppose there were 6,500 languages in the world (which there are). How does that help commerce? Shall we eliminate all those languages and learn to speak Esperanto? I'd rather have a world that's diverse and interesting rather than one that's homogenized and pasteurized.If there were 90 regions of the planet dedicated to different unique units of measurement, how would that make commerce better?
You don't have to go so far back into history to find that %99 of all the people in the world didn't know how to count past forty, rather than that there were thousands of isolated regionally specific methods of measurement.
At least we can put the NTCS vs PAL argument to bed.![]()
The usefulness of having a single language which is widely or universally used has been demonstrated through the last two millennia, firstly with Latin and then with English. Generally, life is easier when things run the same way in different places, or there is at least a universal standard everyone agrees on alongside cultural variations.
Do McDonalds have a weed burger it can sell in some places?
Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Who does the US have to Glom onto to adopt less draconian laws about adding herbs to my McRibs?
Google tells me that the only likely candidate is "International Waters".
Although there are a few urban legends about pot "appearing" in burgers without any explanation.
Like Windows 8!But the truth is that such sentiments are merely excuses. Opposition to metrification has nothing to do with the loss of culture or opposition to homogenisation. It's based on the simple stubbornness of not wanting to adapt to a new system, even if it is simpler and more sensible.![]()
XP Forever! The Least Feces of the Fleecy Releases
I like your idea of starting from "scratch," but your implementation is wildly off. We could use about seven billion people fewer so those things would not be necessary. We continue to breed as if the worldwide population were in the thousands or millions and resources were unlimited. From "scratch" would be placing a higher value on natural, community and multi-generational household living than bulldozing the planet in favor of concrete and asphalt to support our addiction to growth.^How would that work with wall some want to errect along the USA/Canadian border, though I suspect it's less about keeping Canadians out but Americans in.![]()
Who needs to be a wall, when there won't even be a need for a border. Then we can use the money saved towards something more important, like a high speed rail system.
Our roads and highways could also use some work. Then again, I'd like nothing better than for us to just start again from scratch, and rebuild our highways based off the systems used in Germany and Italy. Speeding down large stretches of highways at 100+ MPH in American muscle cars, in America (and I guess Mexico and Canada should get them too)!
We'll also need all the money we can save for that hyperloop system.
There's a series of science fiction novels written in the '80s, by F.M. Busby. The Hulzein Saga's core books (Young Rissa, Rissa and Tregare, and The Long View) show a dystopian type of future in which there are only three governments on Earth: The Hulzein Establishment controls Argentina, the Australians are independent (though at one time were Hulzein-connected), and the rest of the world is controlled by a massive fascist government called United Energy & Transport (UET).There's been a lot of talk about a 'North American Union' which would supposedly consist of the USA, Canada and Mexico. But that's just paranoid conspiracy stuff, spouted by the likes of Hal Turner. None of those three countries - yes, not even the US - actually WANTS an NAU, and I wouldn't want it either.
Back in the early 21st century, the world economy got so bad that the United States literally couldn't afford to keep its form of government going. So various multinational conglomerates stepped in, bidding every four years for the right to govern. One of those, Synthetic Food & Combine, annexed Canada and Mexico. Then a few years later UET took over and decided there would be no more "elections." When Europe objected, UET used nukes to convince them.
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