Amish lifestyle

Work

The Amish depend mostly on agriculture for salary. They were rather good at it as most Amish took their job rather seriously as you can see from the Philosophy section. They also refrain from using machines such as tractors and stick to using more of the primitive machines such as horse drawn machines, etc. Still over time the Amish introduced more technologically advanced machines to aid with their farm work such as power feed grinders and an electricity making windmill but still did not allow the use of tractors as they believed that it was like a personal item and that would not show integrity (read more on the Philosophy section). Instead they allowed non - motorised vehicles so as to increase productivity and only allowed machines to be horse - drawn so as to preserve their Amish culture. Even with all these limitations, the Amish still produced quite high - quality products as they were very good at improvising and making use of their practical knowledge to help increase productivity and were also extremely hardworking.


Education

For the Amish education it is actually a rather good system if you are into the area of agriculture as it teaches it students all the skills that make a good farmer, carpenter, etc. In fact the Amish church forbid their children from learning through the mainstream education as it teaches children about individualism, evolution, etc. (Learn more about this in the Philosophy section) Thus children are taught in Amish schools comprising of one - room which caters for their education up to the eighth grade. But in 1950's the government imposed a law stating that students must be educated beyond the eighth grade and taught mainstream subjects. This was a major problem for the Amish as as stated in the above statement that if the Amish were to develop critical thinking they might question Amish church and do other "un - Amish" things. To counter this problem the Amish church proposed an idea that allows a student to be taught by the Amish system of education but allows the young Amish to be taught once a week in vocational schools which only teaches the Amish basic subjects such as Math and other languages. Only in 1971 did the U.S. Supreme Court allow the young Amish to stop studying at the eighth grade. religion was also taught but it was not taught in schools as the Amish church felt it was too important to be taught in schools and only permitted it to be taught by their parents at home or be taught at church.


Recreation

There are many things Amish do for recreation and they differ for different age groups. But one of the most common form of entertainment is the making of big quilts and making items out of quilts. This way not only will the Amish get satisfaction out of making something with their hands but also show off their arts skills. The quilts themselves are also of some use, they are usually used when there are big family gatherings as tablecloths or just hung up as decorations. Some other activities include helping out with the barn work which the Amish children seem to enjoy as Amish love work and since there are no video games, hands - on activities were one of the most entertaining thing they could do. This is also beneficial as the children can prepare themselves for adulthood where they have to do farming. Another one of the more common recreation activities would be family gatherings where there will be a big dinner and everyone would just sit around and socialize. This is integral as Amish believe strongly in bonding and union. But the most exciting past time would be barn raising where everyone lends a hand to a farmer who wishes to tear down an old building to build a new one. The cause of this is simply the pleasure gained from being able to smash things with a hammer or a tool.

Philosophy

The Amish is a religious group of people who are against modernization and supports traditional ways. they also believe strongly in modesty. Thus Amish people mostly dress in very plain clothes of dull colours and are allowed to keep only a few simple hairstyles. But the most important thing that all Amish have to know is that union is the most important aspect of their lives. That single piece of thinking is what differentiates the Amish from our civilisation and what shapes their lifestyle. Allow me to list you some rules that have been imposed because of this thinking and this rules are called the Ordnung which is the name for the set of rules. One of the rules include the prohibition of modern technology as it might promote inequality and individualisation which might cause families to move further apart as they interact less. Which is why tractors are not use to help with farming as it is viewed as a personal machine and with the introduction of such machines the family member will get dependent on his machine and not consult his family for help on cultivating or harvesting crops. Many other modern technology such as light bulbs, telephones, etc. were also prohibited but only after some time were some of these pieces of technology allowed. As for the telephone it was not exactly prohibited but it had to be shared between many households so as to make sure that everyone had a telephone and not have inequality among the people. Another rule in which they implemented would be that all Amish people should not be educated by mainstream educators and should be educated by Amish citizens as they do not want the values from the modern world such as competition, evolution, etc. so as to prevent them from being too selfish and oppose the Amish traditions when they develop critical thinking.