Regardless of the politics, the points made in the June 15 editorial on the current use of the metric system in the United States exhibit a misunderstanding of the issue, and look to the country’s past, not its future (“Chafee inches — er, centimeters — toward an agenda”).

For too long, America, to use the Globe’s verb, has “clung” to the old units as if they were a talisman for success, instead of adopting the measurement system that would improve interoperability of economies. US products would face fewer obstacles for import and export because they would be made to the same measurement standard other countries use.

Concerning medication safety, what use is it to have metric-only appliances if the culture retains a built-in possibility of confusion between measurement systems over the reporting of an often-crucial dosing factor — namely, a patient’s weight?