> Smaller nations have no problem changing everything. The marginal benefit is too small for a giant to turn on a dime.
Every other nation seemed to manage it. It's just the usual American exceptionalism. There's nothing special about the USA that makes it harder to implement. There's just just a stubborn belief that there is, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. A bit like all the other policy issues which the rest of the world has solved but the US still argues about.
I really don’t think that’s the issue. Even in the US, people complain constantly about the units.
The stubbornness you speak of is actually more to do with not willing to accept the costs of the change. World’s largest economy can’t just change it all at once even though majority of the people support it.
No one in the US argues that the Metric system isn’t superior. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that multiples of 10 in a base 10 system of numbers makes everything easy.
In fact, the superiority complex comes from non-US folks thinking “look at those dumb Americans and their stupid units”.
Certain people think “Americans just don’t get it”.
I am talking about adoption and standardization, not whether one is better than the other. If right hand side was “better”, it would be pretty much impossible for US/EU to change the driving side. Can you imagine the costs? Even if it was better.
Yes, but my point is that it isn't an example of the US adopting a standard. It's the US just happening to have chosen the more popular of two arbitrary options.
Every other nation seemed to manage it. It's just the usual American exceptionalism. There's nothing special about the USA that makes it harder to implement. There's just just a stubborn belief that there is, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. A bit like all the other policy issues which the rest of the world has solved but the US still argues about.