I’m around Amish & Mennonite (horse & buggy folk) every day.
They are some of the most creative people I have encountered. Many of my power tools, including my compound miter saw, run on air rather than electricity. I’ve even seen pneumatic kitchen appliances like kitchen aid mixers.
They have an aversion to technology that takes away their independence. That goes beyond technology and includes their aversion to government handouts.
They feel that if they become dependent upon the government, the government will control them. They do not accept Social Security or even tax credits like EIC or Child Credits. They even refused the Covid-19 stimulus checks.
My small tax office sent several million dollars in tax refund checks back to the US Government as they would not accept them.
One of their favorite memes that I saw on the doors of several businesses showed two Amish men talking. The one asked the other if he got Covid-19. The other responds, “No, I don’t have a TV either.”
One of the primary differences between the Amish and English, (anyone not Amish they call English), they grow their own food. They eat far more healthy than most. They also work hard physically and thus get far more exercise.
I had to laugh one day when I saw a desk calculator on an Amish farmer’s desk. I followed the cord to find a car battery and transformer behind the desk.
At the end of their long lanes into their farms, near the highway, you will almost always see a small shed that looks like an outhouse. They are phone sheds. Often several families will go together and share one phone with an answering machine.
We really have problems with the increasing government requirements for electronic tax reporting and filing. I’ve had several tax audits where I set up a table in the barn to meet with agents who insisted on reviewing tax documents. These have resulted in many humorous events, as female agents don’t like using the outhouse.
Bottom line, I have high respect for horse & buggy folk. I may not always agree with them, but I understand why they hold to their customs. For the most part, they are really good folks.
If the SHTF, I have thousands of friends and a big community to be a part of that does not rely on tractors to farm, electricity to live, or electronic media to propagandize them.
Uh; where does the AIR come from?
I hope they have enough ammo to protect their stored flood from the roving bands of starving people.