PM Boris Johnson’s proposal to restore pounds and ounces and the crown mark on pint beer glasses may be opportunist populism from a cynical chancer, but much of the old system of weights and measures actually worked better. That’s because it was rooted in what people found useful. By contrast, the rule of ten was imposed from above in the French Revolution, a politically-driven program to cut us off from our past and begin afresh; progressivism is about centralised power versus the populace.
Pounds and ounces: power to the people
Pounds and ounces: power to the people
Pounds and ounces: power to the people
PM Boris Johnson’s proposal to restore pounds and ounces and the crown mark on pint beer glasses may be opportunist populism from a cynical chancer, but much of the old system of weights and measures actually worked better. That’s because it was rooted in what people found useful. By contrast, the rule of ten was imposed from above in the French Revolution, a politically-driven program to cut us off from our past and begin afresh; progressivism is about centralised power versus the populace.