[lbo-talk] Amish (was: school uniforms)

[John Thornton]

The Amish that I know personally are not "allowed" to ride in trains, 
buses, or have electricity or refrigeration. They walk up the road or ride 
into town on horse and buggy and have a member of the Mennonite community 
call me on the phone when they need to contact me. They sell items through 
the Mennonites. The Amish make, harvest, gather something, then have the 
Mennonites provide delivery of the item(s). I have never gotten a clear 
explanation of the differences between the Mennonite and the Amish 
communities in my area and they generally laugh when I probe for an 
understanding. I am interested in how each group defines which technologies 
are acceptable and which are not. Apparently there is a fair degree of 
difference between Amish communities in different parts of the country as well.

John Thornton

At 02:31 PM 8/25/03 -0400, Wojtek wrote:


>If I understand the Amish - they are not luddites as popularly thought.
>In fact, they use a lot of modern technological inventions, such as
>refrigerators, trains, buses, etc.  Their main point (with which I
>wholeheartedly agree) is that they use technologies SELEVTIVELY - i.e.
>they select for use only those technologies that they think will have
>beneficial effects on their community, and reject those that they think
>will have negative ones.
>
>For example, they shun automobiles because they believe auto ownership
>will destroy they community by giving people greater mobility and thus
>"attaching" them to the outside world.  Ditto for electric power (but
>they use propane powered refrigerators and lighting).
>
>It is clear that the Amish are a handful of group in the US that were
>able to resist corporate propaganda and instead make the choices
>themselves, as a community.  I wholeheartedly applaud that principle,
>albeit I would most likely made different choices than the Amish.