If the American units were 'metric in base 12', there would be a lot more arguments for keeping them. But they really aren't - the units have no well-thought-out relationships to each other, they are just an amalgamation of different historical decisions, often taken in isolation. Inches to feet to furlongs to miles have one set of arbitrary conversions, while ounces to pounds to tons has entirely different conversions.
But contrast, a metric system in base 12 should still keep the niceties of the metric system - units of volume should correspond to units lengths of the side of a cube, units of weight should correspond to units of volume of water etc. And there should be a single rule for conversions, with standardized names for sub divisions.
These are the things that make the metric system superior, not its being in base 10. And these advantages far outweigh the advantage of being able to divide a sixth of a foot in a whole number of inches - particularly in the era where we carry arbitrary precision calculators in our pockets.
But contrast, a metric system in base 12 should still keep the niceties of the metric system - units of volume should correspond to units lengths of the side of a cube, units of weight should correspond to units of volume of water etc. And there should be a single rule for conversions, with standardized names for sub divisions.
These are the things that make the metric system superior, not its being in base 10. And these advantages far outweigh the advantage of being able to divide a sixth of a foot in a whole number of inches - particularly in the era where we carry arbitrary precision calculators in our pockets.