RE:The Amish

I saw a thread recently where it was discussed how the Amish might fare in TEOTWAKI.

Some points I'll make based on my limited contact and understanding of the Amish:

1. Whatever cellphones or gasoline tractors a particular Amish sect decides to use, they will still do 99.99% better in a grid collapse event than the rest of America (and probably most of the people discussing how poorly they might fare). This is because, while they do adopt some technology, they do not depend upon it for the essentials.

2. I'll put a strong work ethic and a willingness to endure up against a desire for leisure and comfort piped in via copper cables and water pipes any day of the week.

3. Property ownership among the Amish has INCREASED over the past 4 decades while property ownership amongst "normal" Americans (including homesteaders!) has collapsed down to about a sixteenth of what it was at the end of WW2. This shows they have something in their culture that the average American culture doesn't have.

4. My only concerns about the survival of the Amish would be whether or not the "average" Americans would turn on them and take their possessions by force in a grid collapse event. I do not see pacifism as a viable survival strategy, though I suppose it is very good for the soul. However pacifism is part of their ordnung and I don't believe it is more of a biblical thing for them, so I'm not sure it would stand up to a long term disruption. Maybe for a few years, but I think after a few Amish families got butchered and eaten then they'd probably incorporate a right to self-defense (and defense of your community) into their tenets. Maybe not though. This is just my thoughts and does not represent the Amish in any realistic way.