In a message dated 1/3/00 11:09:33 PM Eastern Standard Time,
edb3@MSN.COM
writes:
> The Amish want to maintain a certain perspective about technology. For
> example, they have phones, but they are in boxes on the property line so
> their neighbors can use them. They use tractors, but only on the farm.
> They have gas tanks that fit on their buggies, which they take to town to
> fill for the tractor. They use computers, but only for running their
> milking/farm businesses.
This suffers from the danger of all generalizations. There is a spectrum
within the Amish community. In Lancaster, Pa., most of the Old Order Amish
use horses on their farms--autos, trucks, and tractors are almost unheard of
on Amish farms there. They may have electricity for the comfort of their
stock, but will commonly produce it by means of a generator in the barn,
while still using oil lamps in their houses. There is a healthy cottage
industry among the "English" in Lancaster Cty. of providing van pools and
taxi services to the Old Order Amish.
Note the word commonly: in the Anabaptist tradition (which gave rise to the
Amish), the other end of the spectrum are represented by the Mennonites, who
to the casual public observer may be indistinguishable from anyone else,
except that the women wear lace headpieces in public. Some Mennonites are
willing to own cars, so long as the are black and have not extra decoration;
others will drive just about anything.
As is the case with some managements (note the tie in to the purpose of this
list), the Amish are facing a harder and harder time doing things the way
they have always done them. Every year, a percentage of the young people
leave the community. It's not uncommon in the Lancaster paper to read of
Amish teenagers caught in car accidents, driving cars they have stored on
some neighboring non-Amish property, just as youngsters often choose to
abandon the family business after two or three generations.
Nevertheless, the culture is still strong and continues to propagate itself.
Frank Bell
email:
frankwbell@aol.com http://members.aol.com/frankwbell