How do Amish people generally make money? I know there are markets that sell Amish goods to non-Amish, but there must be more to their income than that.
Modern Tech inside an Amish Horse-Drawn Buggy
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Re: Modern Tech inside an Amish Horse-Drawn Buggy
#12How do Amish people generally make money? I know there are markets that sell Amish goods to non-Amish, but there must be more to their income than that.
I live in Lancaster PA and most Amish can't afford the farm land here anymore (its become housing and malls) and have moved west. Lots of Amish now work in the trades (construction/electrical/roofing/etc.) Someone picks them up and takes them to their job sites. Their general low standard of living (no car payments or electronics budgets) allow for that to be a very solid income for most.
Re: Modern Tech inside an Amish Horse-Drawn Buggy
#13Its all about self-sufficiency.
I'm somewhat confused. As the article says, buggy components are often manufactured off-site (e.g. fiberclass body), how does this make them self-sufficient?
It's self sufficiency after purchase not before.
They don't mind buying things they can't make, as long as they can repair or do without them afterward.
They won't buy things that need constant connection to the outside - like grid electricity.
They will buy a generator as long as they can take it completely apart and put it back together. But if they can't do that they won't.
LED's seem unexpected to me, but I suspect they are OK with them because the lights are not for them they are for the outside world. As far as they are concerned they don't need them (so can do without).
Note: Things (such as buying a generator) vary by community.
Re: Modern Tech inside an Amish Horse-Drawn Buggy
#14>Despite what you may have heard, the Amish aren’t against technology. Communities adopt new gadgets such as fax machines and business-use cellphones all the time—as long as the local church approves each one ahead of time, determining that it won’t drastically change their way of life. This alone is the most interesting point of the article. People not belonging to the community, like myself, have a fixed preconceiv…
There are lots of different sects with different rules. Also, there are lots of them that have generators creating electricity but they unplug it if the church elders come for a visit.
Re: Modern Tech inside an Amish Horse-Drawn Buggy
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find it's also easy to fall into the trap of attributing more cohesion than there is and simplifying all of the groups into some sort of average. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish#Use_of_technology_by_dif...
There's some really interesting inconsistencies in that table. E.g. some think tractors for fieldwork aren't OK but lawnmowers are, for others somehow chainsaws are bad but washing machines are fine etc. Looking these over there doesn't seem to be any clear pattern to me. The grandparent mentioned them not wanting things that will "drastically change their way of life", surely having a washing machine is a bigger cha…
>surely having a washing machine is a bigger change to your life than having a chainsaw
The relative effect of these devices varies by location. This assessment might be true in Southern CA, but if you're heating your domicile using wood in Northern Ontario that chainsaw is looking pretty good!
Re: Modern Tech inside an Amish Horse-Drawn Buggy
#16How do Amish people generally make money? I know there are markets that sell Amish goods to non-Amish, but there must be more to their income than that.
They're good farmers, self-finance and produce a lot of skilled trade stuff.
The big secret to small time farming is that if you don't have to pay for lots of shit like tractors, etc, you can make money the old fashioned way. Not having car payments, cable tv, etc helps too.
Also, many groups are loaded because they've sold land that's been swallowed up by suburban sprawl.
Re: Modern Tech inside an Amish Horse-Drawn Buggy
#17How do Amish people generally make money? I know there are markets that sell Amish goods to non-Amish, but there must be more to their income than that.
I live in Lancaster PA and most Amish can't afford the farm land here anymore (its become housing and malls) and have moved west. Lots of Amish now work in the trades (construction/electrical/roofing/etc.) Someone picks them up and takes them to their job sites. Their general low standard of living (no car payments or electronics budgets) allow for that to be a very solid income for most.
Minor point, but you meant 'cost of living', I believe.
Re: Modern Tech inside an Amish Horse-Drawn Buggy
#18>Despite what you may have heard, the Amish aren’t against technology. Communities adopt new gadgets such as fax machines and business-use cellphones all the time—as long as the local church approves each one ahead of time, determining that it won’t drastically change their way of life. This alone is the most interesting point of the article. People not belonging to the community, like myself, have a fixed preconceiv…
In the area I grew up, inflated rubber tires and bicycles were not allowed, but wooden tires on scooters were fine. Reason being, inflated tires made it too easy to travel far from home, which was generally discouraged.
So many people I grew up with seemed to think that Amish were being hypocritical by paying for taxi drivers to drive them around. That's an over-simplistic view. To an Amish community, taxi fees are a tariff intended to encourage finding a job close to home - or if at all possible - in your backyard. The ideal Amish are taught to strive for and desire is to have a farm and provide for your family with your hands.
Here is a great documentary about an Amish couple that gave the rare opportunity to be filmed and interviewed. It's not about the Amish that I grew up with, however their flavor of Amishness is philosophically equivalent https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtNXvE_rLoE
Re: Modern Tech inside an Amish Horse-Drawn Buggy
#19How do Amish people generally make money? I know there are markets that sell Amish goods to non-Amish, but there must be more to their income than that.
They're good farmers, self-finance and produce a lot of skilled trade stuff. The big secret to small time farming is that if you don't have to pay for lots of shit like tractors, etc, you can make money the old fashioned way. Not having car payments, cable tv, etc helps too. Also, many groups are loaded because they've sold land that's been swallowed up by suburban sprawl.
They also tend to pool and share resources, so an expensive piece of equipment isn't purchased by every farmer in an area, but shared between them. What we'd call a more modern farm has enormous redundancy in equipment ownership in the same local area, which makes it really hard for them to get into a profitable state.
Re: Modern Tech inside an Amish Horse-Drawn Buggy
#20>Despite what you may have heard, the Amish aren’t against technology. Communities adopt new gadgets such as fax machines and business-use cellphones all the time—as long as the local church approves each one ahead of time, determining that it won’t drastically change their way of life. This alone is the most interesting point of the article. People not belonging to the community, like myself, have a fixed preconceiv…
You should see some videos of Amish woodworking shops. They have every tool that a modern woodworking shop would have: table saw, bandsaw, drill press, rotary sanders, etc.
Except they are all air powered. They have all been rigged to run off pressurized air lines. The air is produced by a gas generator.