Re: Can't beat Amish craftsmanship!

On Thu, 01 Jan 2009 12:37:15 -0800, David Nebenzahl
<nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 1/1/2009 5:22 AM Robert spake thus:

On Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:14:28 -0800, David Nebenzahl
<nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 12/31/2008 9:17 AM Robert spake thus:

They [the Amish] dont connect to the power grid, but they are very
ingenious and do use electricity. As far as practicallity, while it
does all work, and works well, the guy spends more per month on
gasoline than it would cost to have electricity from the electric
company, or at least he was when gasoline was around $4 a gallon.

Now this came guy is working on a generator system for his horse drawn
buggy. By law they are required to have headlights and taillights on
public roads. Their batteries get weak on long trips, so he's
designing a generator that is powered from the wheels to recharge the
battery. He also has a CB radio in his buggy.

What an odd set of strictures these people saddle themselves with: it's
OK to use a gasoline engine to power a diary operation (though not
inside lights), but not OK to use that same engine to power their
buggies. WTF??!?

Yet another illustration of how useless and ridiculous religion is.

In some ways I agree with you, but because I am good friends with
them, and they are nice people, I have asked them outright why they do
some of these things.

As far as electricity, they are not allowed to be connected to the
grid. They are meant to survive without being connected to the
outside world. Well, I explained to them that using gasoline connects
them to the outside world because they cant make their own. The
answer I got was that it's just the rules, and if they could not get
gas, they would make a wood powered steam engine.

[snip]

I'm sure that they are "nice people", who furthermore carry on
traditions of making useful and beautiful things in the old ways.

But look at the Shakers, who had many of the same practices (some even
more extreme), and gave us a rich repertoire of furniture and furnishing
designs, but who eventually self-extinguished because of their meshuggah
ideas about sexuality, procreation, etc. No new Shakers = extinction. I
guess that either never occurred to them, or if it did they decided it
didn't matter.


I'm dont know much about the Shakers, but I will say that the Amish do
their share of reproducing, where most families have at least 5 kids,
and often more. I heard of one family that had 17 kids. The problem
is there is a lot of inbreeding, and they have a higher percentage of
birth defects than average.

Yes, they do refer to anyone who is not Amish as English. This is in
reference to our English language. I'm not sure what they would call
someone that speaks Spanish or French, but I'd guess they still call
them English. The thing is that they speak english most of the time
themselves, but when a bunch of Amish guys get together, then they
speak their own language, which is a form of German, but not the
common German language.

I once went over to one of their farms and they were having an Amish
business meeting out in the barn. One of the guys was going to help
me do something, and I had to wait until they finished their meeting.
Ten minutes later, I was standing there and did not understand a
single word of what they were saying, and I felt pretty uncomfortable.
I excused myself and told them I was going to go out and pet their
horses. The guy who was supposed to help me, said (in English), We'll
be done in about a half hour or so, there's a bag of horse treats in
the small shed if you want to treat them....... Then they went back
to speaking their own language and I went out by the horses.
(I understood the horses better, and the horses enjoyed the treats) :)


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Has anyone noticed?
    ... in charge of me it's ... Other bitter evident ... donating under your developing campaign. ... He should compete northern injurys, ...
    (sci.crypt)
  • Re: English vs Western Att: JRW
    ... "english" after my BHS certification for two years then came back ... Sox was intended to be an "english" horse. ... No gaited horses in my background, ... But when I went back to riding, I was taking lessons in both hunt seat ...
    (rec.equestrian)
  • Re: Shocking reminder (ON TOPIC)
    ... >>> They don't have static electricity in England, ... Back in the late 70s I fabricated an all steel "swimming pool" for horses. ... minute electrical charge that was coming from *somewhere* ...the charge was ...
    (rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic)
  • Re: Best country in the world for horse-riding?
    ... And with a check jacket on, you were really looking for trouble! ... I remember one male livery owner going purple with rage because I could'nt understand he wanted his horses mane pulled 'criniere! ... bred English, so join the club!! ... French love the Scots thanks to Mary Queen of Scots! ...
    (uk.rec.equestrian)
  • Mocha does a Lesson
    ... Western tack and the English tack down. ... We did some big work on forehand turns and haunches turns, ... Yeah, it's a luxury compared to horses on turnout, but given her level ...
    (rec.equestrian)
Loading