The Amish Paradox

[hoodat]

I thought this article would be very appropriate for our members to read.

http://www.openforum.com/articles/3...nk=rs-gambd-2011booming-outbraining-outbrain/

You may also find this interesting if you are having trouble with your weight.
http://www.active.com/fitness/Artic...ctive_lifestyles_help_keep_the_weight_off.htm

 

[seedcorn]

interesting article. Wonder why they don't tell the whole story? They make it appear they make their money farming--& imply commercial farming just don't get it. They neglect to say they have 8+ kids who work off of the farm and give all the money to dad. They also carry no insurance, pay no SS taxes, and the obvious, no electric, cars, TV, etc............ How many of us want to live that way?

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

oooh! me! me! there are some things i wish my dh could really learn to live without! the TV would be one thing! we have a wood stove/furnace as a backup to the oil furnace so if we had to live without power we could still cook food and keep the house warm. we have enough wildlife traveling through our back yard that we could learn to live off the land. but wee don't really have the property to keep any larger farm animals. i know my dh wouldn't want to become a farmer but i wouldn't mind it!

i found out years ago when i worked in the restaurant that it was actually helping me to stay fit! i was always on my feet and limited what junk foods i ate there and got to mix some interesting meals that were actually good for me! i also had time to get to the gym when it wasn't peak hours most days! when i wasn't working during the spring/summer/early fall months i was usually outdoors gardening!

 

[journey11]

I would say too, that their strict moral standard also discourages gluttony.

This stupid computer put 15 lbs on me when we got it nearly 2 years ago.

 

[seedcorn]

oooh! me! me! there are some things i wish my dh could really learn to live without! the TV would be one thing! we have a wood stove/furnace as a backup to the oil furnace so if we had to live without power we could still cook food and keep the house warm. we have enough wildlife traveling through our back yard that we could learn to live off the land. but wee don't really have the property to keep any larger farm animals. i know my dh wouldn't want to become a farmer but i wouldn't mind it!

i found out years ago when i worked in the restaurant that it was actually helping me to stay fit! i was always on my feet and limited what junk foods i ate there and got to mix some interesting meals that were actually good for me! i also had time to get to the gym when it wasn't peak hours most days! when i wasn't working during the spring/summer/early fall months i was usually outdoors gardening!

So you would live without electric, phone, internet--or should I say you do? We all buy/use what we want not necessarily what we have to. Wouldn't mind being a farmer? Would love to know your definition of a farmer.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

Seedcorn, i wouldn't mind being without the electricity and all the amenities that seem to come with it! i only keep a cell phone for emergencies and that rarely gets used. if i didn't have the computer i wouldn't feel like i was always behind it instead of going out and getting more work done in my yard when i wasn't working during the days! it would mean more $$ in our pockets if we could do away with soo many things we seem to think we can't live without today! what drives me nuts is that we have to pay for all sorts of 'insurance' just in case of an emergency!

try living through a blizzard/ice storm when you've lost power for up to a week!!! (sister lost it for 2 weeks when we had that ice storm a few years ago!) you learn to take care of yourself however you have to! having to deal with situations like that makes you learn to be self sufficient!

i've been gardening since i was 5 but i've never been a 'farmer' that had to live with many acres of land to support many family members and the animals that are needed for supporting them too. i'm lucky that it is just me and dh with the animals! i've already been doing the crop rotation for years, and our back yard already has a lot of legumes that take over once the garden is done for the season. this year will be the first time i will be doing the fall gardening though!

i took animal science when i was in HS and there is a lot of stuff that had been covered regarding larger farm animals and growing their feed and also processing them for their meat. i learned how to do canning a long time ago, so now owning our own home most of my garden stuff gets canned and stored when not used fresh. i keep chickens for the eggs and we have learned to process the roosters. i also have friends that raise cows and pigs so we have learned to trade or we pay for the meat. so that is as close as i get to being a 'farmer'.

 

[Jared77]

Sign me up. I enjoy the labor, it makes me feel like I've accomplished something. The computer is a nice toy, but not something I couldn't live without. I sleep better when I've put up a few trailer loads of wood, put up a few hundred bales of hay or processed deer. I could very easily ditch my cell phone, heck it never rings anyway but I have it just in case. Things like the computer and television they are more of a distraction or an escape than an actual tool I need to function. I can putz around on here instead of moving laundry, or doing the dishes, things like that. I read a lot, and that wouldn't change.

We have Morgans and they are taught to drive in addition to being under saddle, so that wouldn't be much of a change there. Id need a team to plow with, but that might be an oxen team vs horse power to help make use of the livestock I have available. A couple of Dexters in a yolk would get the fields plowed up just fine, plus give me milk, and meat. Would be a nice little set up. Plow my garden, work my fields life would be pretty good. Id be working hard but that keeps you honest. I could make the transition. I don't know the finer rules and beliefs of Amish society but I could transition into the life easily enough.

 

[seedcorn]

I'm sorry, but you've missed my point. I realize most on this board are closer to the earth than your average person. Putting out a garden, raising a few animals and using wood heat is a long way from the perceived amish life style--which isn't any different than my g'parents lived in the '40's.

None of us want to live that way which is why we don't. Could we, we would survive but we would long for what we had to give up. So many things we take for granted. If you think I'm wrong, go a month with out electric, cars, telephone, computer, any foods that you didn't grow (includes salt, pepper, vegetable oil, etc), deodorants, soap (unless you made it), water has to be from old style well or stream (remember NO electric), gas, lp, etc. I could go on but you get my challenge. I don't believe any of you will see week 2--I know I enjoy the things of 2011. Meds are allowed as I don't want anyone dieing from this...

 

[digitS']

An important question would be whether economics would permit.

Debt is a powerful determinant of lifestyle. I don't know that the Amish practice common ownership of property in some fashion or collective purchase of property but individual property ownership is beyond the reach of most of us for up to 30 years.

That has the tendency to take one into middle age and even retirement, with all that means in limited choices.

Perhaps this is a conversation often held on the self-sufficiency forum.

Steve

 

[lesa]

Why does it have to be all or none? Since I assume none of us are Amish- can't we all just work toward being more SS?? Perhaps an evening a week without electricity, etc. I enjoy electricity and the modern conveniences of 2011, too- Seedcorn, but, that doesn't mean that I couldn't live without them. We were crunching some numbers, here this weekend. We saved half on our food budget last year (due to the garden, and canning). I think that is pretty impressive! I live in the city- so what I can do is very limited, indeed. I long to be out in the country and working towards more self-sufficiency.
Hard work is like a religion to me. I believe we are meant to be moving and accomplishing something, everyday. As others have stated - it is a wonderful feeling to work hard and accomplish something important. Many people look at my garden and say "but, it is too much work"- to them I say, if you love something it is not work, at all....
Very interesting article, hoodat- thanks for posting.