Offgrid living

It’s perhaps fair enough to say some Amish communities have some hypocrisy, but I think as outsiders we perceive hypocrisy largely out of misunderstanding their goals. We tend to think they are anti-tech but IIUC that’s not their end game, it just turns out that their real goals incidentally appear to manifest into anti-tech ends. They are increasingly forced to compromise in some situations.

Amish w/phones

They won’t have a phone or electric lights in the house but will in their workshop.

W.r.t the phone, the Amish oppose phones for the same reason as the electric grid: having a phone line creates a permanent dependency and connection to the outside world which undermines self-reliance. Some Amish workers need to sell their goods to customers outside their community. Having no phone can reduce or kill their sales especially if they produce the kind of product that someone orders to spec in advance. So some make an exception and use a mobile phone for work. A mobile phone is less ethically problematic to them than a landline.. which sounds bizarre. But I suspect what’s happening there is you can get a prepaid plan and turn off the phone when not working, thus limiting outside contact/dependency to worktime, whereas a landline is always connected to that “sinful city”. And since each call is billed individually, I get the impression that transactional nature of it is more conducive to their way of thinking. They pay X amount to carrier Y to facilitate transaction Z. Whereas with an unlimited service there is that idea that you are costing the service provider more with each call but results in no particular compensation and perhaps a feeling of taking advantage of the phone carrier, or owing them in some way.

I’m guessing on some of this. Part of my understanding comes from this article.

Amish in cars

They won’t drive a car but will gladly get rides from their neighbors.

I haven’t pinned down why that is but consider that car ownership requires insurance and registration, which must be renewed annually and ultimately creates an outside world dependency with continuous interaction. I wonder if a car rental service were to drop off a car to use for a day, perhaps that would be within their moral code to use?

They have no problem with bicycles, but what about e-bikes? It would be interesting to see if e-bikes are accepted because it would involve a motor but no reg or insurance needed. I guess since they would need to charge the batteries off-grid, it would somewhat defeat the point. I suppose a bicycle with a tiny gas-fueled engine would be classed as a moped and all the paperwork would be a show stopper.

EDIT: This article confirms that insurance is a problem in general (they have no health insurance), but the problem with car ownership is more about income inequality & status symbols. Not everyone can afford a car. When robo-taxis take hold, we’ll need to setup a system where they can request one using a carrier pidgin.

Amish banking

Note as well the Amish oppose the idea of being tagged with numbers. So banking is a problem for them after the US Patriot Act was pushed down everyone’s throat because they can no longer have a bank account without establishing a social security number. Perhaps the opposition to being numbered carries over to car registration. IDK. W.r.t. banking, if you kick the Amish out of the banks that greatly harms their livelihood. So some of them have been forced to compromise and get an SSN. Their arms were twisted. I wonder if being forced perhaps makes it acceptable because maybe they would see that as God’s will being forced on them. I can only guess.

batteries

They use battery powered lights instead of lanterns and also put them on their buggy.

I see no contradiction there. They cannot charge those batteries from the grid but they can use a hand crank to charge them. Perhaps some prefer oil lanterns because they don’t like having to get up and turn a hand crank when the battery hits 0%.

EDIT: Buggy lights are a legal obligation. The Amish also hold safety in high regard (use a text browser for that link).

solar

They have a fit about people putting solar arrays on their adjacent property.

Not sure why that would be. Maybe it’s not about moral code but a matter of unsightliness. Solar energy from the sun is fine to them.. it’s power given to them by god, AFAICT.

fossil fuel → electricity

They use gas powered engines to power their washing machines.

AFAIK, fossil fuels are not a problem. Nor is grid-free electricity.

Amish practices often sound like a joke to me. Makes me wonder if it started as a joke and self-perpetuated from there.