From: Michael S. Lorrey (retroman@turbont.net)
Date: Sun Jun 18 2000 - 15:17:59 MDT
Eirikur Hallgrimsson wrote:
>
> The Amish have been a theme running through a bunch of recent
> messages. I'm moved to mention a few of the visions that thinking
> about the future of the Amish gives me.
>
> 1) The Amish slowy evaporate ala the Shakers because they lose
> critical mass. Doesn't seem to be happening at the moment, which is
> pretty cool. I know the Shakers (no sex) are a bad example on the
> continuity side.
The Shakers evaported because they were celibate and did not marry. The
Amish beleive in good sized families, so I don't see a problem there,
and they do allow young people to go into the 'English' world for a
number of years, sample the pleasures of our decadent civilization, and
only return to the Amish fold when they decide they want to marry and
settle down in the Amish lifestyle. An interesting thing about the Amish
is that because of their religion, they get some special tax breaks that
you can't get otherwise. For example, they pay no social security taxes.
>
> 2) The Amish disappear because their way of life becomes economically
> unsustainable. Any number of reasons present themselves, such as:
> o No market for their products
> o No remaining sources for the tech that they need
> o Can't expand to support population growth because the rest of the
> galaxy has been converted to computronium.....
Authentic Amish products command a premium in the marketplace due to
their handcrafted nature, their reputation for high quality products,
etc.
Amish don't have an opposition to technology per se. The
gas/propane/steam/pneumatic powered equipment they use is VERY
sophisticated stuff. They always pay in full, in cash, for all equipment
they buy. They don't finance things. The equipment they buy is very
rugged, and lasts for many years. They mostly only have opposition to a)
motorized transportation, and b) electrically powered devices. I once
saw an Amish farmer with a big steam harvester, steel, not rubber tires
(sparks coming up off the road like gangbusters), being pulled by a team
of horses to his fields a few miles away on the paved road.
I don't know how the Amish would deal with non-electronic computers, I
would imagine that they would adopt them.
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