https://www.cottagecraftworks.com/home-goods/self-sufficient...
What concerns the Amish is being too dependent on the outside world. Tying to the regional electrical grid would make them too dependent.
They aren't isolationists, though. They will still buy from and sell to outsiders. Using things like gasoline or diesel generators to power air compressors is OK because it isn't seen as requiring becoming too closely tied. Probably because if their gasoline supplier becomes unreliable, they can buy from someone else.
In general, the Amish avoidance of technology is greatly overstated. They don't so much avoid it as take a very cautious approach, making sure they know how it will impact their society before they let it in.
They have a few people try it out, while the rest observe how it goes, and they watch how the outside world handles it. Only when they understand what changes it will bring, good and bad, do they decide if they are going to adopt it or skip it.
They are kind of like where the rest of us were 20-50 years ago (it varies depending on the particular technology) except they are avoiding the mistakes we were making back then when we were rushing to embrace the latest stuff.
In a few decades, there will probably be Amish equivalents of Facebook and Twitter but without being full of trolling and misinformation, because the Amish will wait for us to figure out how to control that before they make their versions.
Here's a good article on Amish and technology [1].
Quote: "Ivan is an Amish alpha-geek. He is always the first to try a new gadget or technique. He gets in his head that the new flowbitzmodulator would be really useful."
flowbitzmodulator!! That's my new word for this week...my wife's going to kill me
Someone help me understand why some folks treat this stuff like a tax loophole.
The rules come from God because Jews consider themselves a chosen people. They don't particularly want you to follow those rules or concern yourself with the mechanics of them, because they're not about you. The fact that it doesn't make sense is perfectly fine.
Interpreting those rules in a modern context is every bit as arcane and arbitrary as the rules were in the first place. The important part is that they come to a conclusion and follow them together. That cements the society as a group.
It doesn't really matter what God thinks, either. If God had a contrary opinion, He'd say so. There is, for that matter, a famous story about rabbis coming to a conclusion that God explicitly sends messages against, but is pleased that they have used their reason.
The Jews put a lot more weight on community and a lot less on trying to please their deity by following the rules. It just so happens that the rules really are both things.
You can also do something similar with the fridge where it turns off the ice maker and the auto door light.
I share in your fascination of these kinds of workarounds.
The force and energy available through natural physical processes is under rated some times...
Well...I guess all our power and energy is based on natural processes.
Hmmm...I guess...there's some natural physical processes that tend to get largely overlooked that provide more energy than one might think is I guess what I mean.
Of course you have to mitigate moisture, but that is trivially solved with a moisture trap on the compressor's outlet or at the tool if you're using long air lines.
An electrical battery, even if it stores the same amount of energy, is seriously more power-strapped.
I vaguely know some Mennonites. One guy has a cell phone and car transmission repair businesses, and computers, but he only uses those things for certain tasks and does not keep the technology in his home. He uses it at work. He locks up his phone and pc when not using them for work.
Not that this guy is representative or anything, just an anecdote. Neither group is homogeneous, and I don’t mean to single anyone out.
The different approaches to technology, and the varied applications of technology, in service both to secular and sacred ends is interesting to me.
I believe some also had mechanical windmills, though none for electrical generation. The area wasn't suitable for waterwheels- if it was, I suspect they may have forgone the diesel engine.
This group also had single landline phone in the community, in someone's yard nearish the road. They used it for the rare cases where letters weren't practical- things like calling a doctor, etc.
Keep in mind, the limitations are based on how a thing affects your relationship with God and each other. Buttons on clothes, for example, weren't a thing; they were seen as a vanity (often too decorative). Instead, safety pins were the norm. As such, technology isn't banned for being technology, but as part of a larger category of things that draw you away from devotion- be it pride, vanity, etc.