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Comment by 0des | Hacker News Reader

You aren't mandated to have mail or phone.

Edit: Noting a lot of downvotes on this comment, which is odd. I can only conclude one thing- don't be Amish on HN.

Perhaps this could be an opportunity to explore a different way of life, and a different community structure. It is not all horse buggies and barns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6SlJZk5guI&list=PLEyPgwIPkH...

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Sure, I could move to the woods and live off wild berries for the rest of my days. But if you want to be part of modern society, your bank will mail you your credit card, and your water company will text you a code to login and pay. Realistically, what choice do you have?

> Sure, I could move to the woods and live off wild berries for the rest of my days

You'd probably just be removed from someones property eventually.

Do you not encounter Amish people where you live?

I wasn't offended and didn't downvote you. But the Amish do receive mail and use phones.

First article I found: https://amishamerica.com/do-amish-use-telephones/

> But the Amish do receive mail and use phones.

I am assuming you don't mean to generalize to the degree that is being conveyed at first glance in your explainer comment.

Amish people are not a monolith. As a culture it is quite a spectrum, from Beachy to Swartzentruber.

My experience is based on visits to an Amish town in Ohio when I was growing up in the 2000s. I distinctly remember being surprised to see they used phones and rode in cars. But that was a long time ago and only one town of many. I didn't mean to generalize all Amish communities.

No worries. It takes all kinds. Who knows, maybe you re-examine the culture and find some things you'd like to take home to your community.

Every community decides for itself what technologies to adapt. The nearest to me have a single phone booth in the front yard of one member's house. Anyone wants to use the phone, they go there to make a call, and most only use it if they need to make an appointment at a hospital for serious illnesses.

Others not quite as close are a fair degree more liberal in what they adopt, while I imagine there's probably a few that are more strict.

I'm pretty sure you are mandated to have mail in the US, or rather the mails are mandated to deliver to you. IIRC it's constitutional.

> I'm pretty sure you are mandated to have mail in the US, or rather the mails are mandated to deliver to you. IIRC it's constitutional.

You'd be incorrect. Ask your postmaster.

They are correct. The USPS has a universal service obligation. If you send a letter or parcel to any address in the US, the post office must deliver it.

I respectfully disagree. The postal service is held to a standard of service by a USO - Universal Service Obligation. [0]

This means it is an org mandated to accept your request for service at a reasonable price regardless of your location of residence. There is an important distinction between that, and being mandated to receive mail service. That is not a stipulation of being alive in USA.

[0] - https://www.uspsoig.gov/blog/postal-service-and-its-obligati...

Just imagine, every drifter, nomad and homeless person were required to set up a mailbox. It's just silly.

>Just imagine, every drifter, nomad and homeless person were required to set up a mailbox. It's just silly.

They don't have to. Just have mail sent to:

  Joe/Jane Drifter
  General Delivery
  TownNearWhereYouSquat, <State> <ZipCode of post office>

Or at least that's how it's been done for decades.

Yeah but they never have to come in and pick it up and I doubt the post office retains that mail in perpetuity until it’s picked up.

https://www.usglobalmail.com/usps-general-delivery/

I can understand the concept of Amish communities not having telephones or mailboxes, but that lifestyle seems inconsistent with the behavior of arguing for the merits of that lifestyle on Hacker News.

Beachy Amish, it's fine.

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