Known for a living in a culture that typically disapproves of modern technology, some members of Amish communities are now bucking their traditional ways by increasingly turning to solar power to meet their energy needs.
Philly.com highlighted this transition among the Amish in an interesting article that was published on their website this weekend. What is most surprising to me is that the Amish have fewer doubts about using solar power for purposes that relate to work, than they do for use inside their homes.
One of the Amish quoted in the article, Elam Beiler, runs a solar power business known as Advanced Solar Industries that sells panels both to Amish and non-Amish customers. He says that while several people have cautioned him about his business, the church has not interfered with his work. He does add an important caveat though: installing electricity in his house could lead to excommunication.
But the interesting thing is that the Amish already use some electricity for items like refrigerators, sewing machines, and lights for their horse-drawn buggies. In Pennsylvania, they don’t use any energy from the grid, and so solar power makes a good alternative for charging batteries that independently can supply energy. As one Amish expert was quoted as saying: “It’s like tapping into God’s grid instead.” The article even references how one person uses solar electricity for their dairy shop, but not for his home. “The Amish decide on whether to adapt to a new technology based on two implications: their separation from the world and the impact on the community” says one expert.
Here are the two aspects of the adoption of solar energy by the Amish that I would like to know more about:
- The article suggests that the Amish are adopting solar power for its economic benefits (diesel and fuel prices are increasingly dramatically). Do the Amish like solar power for environmental reasons too?
- Are there any cases where adoption of technology by the Amish or other groups that live similar lifestyles has led to corruption of the society’s ideals?
Elam Beiler is quoted in the article saying, “I could run a Game Boy on the same power I run the refrigerator. But it’s hard to maintain your culture if you have a TV. Then your kids are worshipping the latest rock star. Eventually, it would erode our culture and ultimately destroy it.”
The author of the article about the Amish’s shift toward solar power, Fabian Loehe, also makes the following contrast: “The Amish fear becoming too materialistic and worldly, which is why they do not use solar to power batteries for iPods, TVs, laptops but do use them for water pumps, washing machines, and battery-powered floor lamps.” No iPods, eh? I wonder if this will always stay the same. It makes me think of an article I read last year about Hutterites in Montana and how the adoption of cell phones by some community members had caused challenges and controversy.
I know that I myself have challenges with discipline from time to time, as I believe most people do. It seems to be human nature. Will the Amish not use solar power for their personal comfort and pleasure at some point? I’m doubtful that such a convenience will be easy to resist.
Read More Interesting Stories About Solar Power on the Green Options Network:
- Toyota Prius to Get Solar Power
- Solar Power from Space Might Reduce Carbon Emissions to 0
- Alaska Police Pull Over Solar-Powered Car, Think It’s a UFO
- No Gimmick: The Phoenix Suns Will Use Solar Power for Energy
- 12 Year Old Boy Invents New Type of Solar Cell
Photo Credit: GeneC55 on Flickr under a Creative Commons license
I wholeheartedly concur with you Uncle B. I use a seven year old computer and I have a twenty two year old TV. I do not have a cell phone and have nothing but contempt for the majority of people that use them. I do not like being bullied to use the latest ipod,nano or any other electronic device. My old Pulsar has lasted twenty two years and these plasma TV are fragile and only last five years!
The Amish type societies are what Americans will evolve to in the future, for basic survival, once they become aware of their highly propagandized positions as slaves to their Uber-rich slave-masters. In a post great republican depression age, the “Post-Materialists” will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes of this society (Detroit City a prime example of “Ashes”) They will be a social democratic meritocracy, based on truth, honesty and fairness, but mostly concerned with survival as independents, much like the Amish. We have much to learn from these gentle societies within our society, and if we are very lucky, and diligent in seeking truth and fairness we will evolve from the current state of affairs into something better than we have, without collapse, and through learning and understanding their principles. The “Status Quo” is admittedly unsustainable, we are experiencing its death as we speak, GM and Chrysler are but harbingers of our times, the big banks are bust, Wall Street has hemorrhaged, and the “American Dream” has become just that: an unattainable nightmare of pollution, corruption, crime, exploitation and malaise for all! Obama cries for Change! He has no idea what he is calling for, not even a slight notion of the paradigm shifts about to occur, as the Chinese take over the world, and currencies from the Americans, We will be left with little other than an unmannable military machine in a raped, resource depleted polluted landscape, ravaged by years of unregulated vulture capitalism, and manned by drunken, indolent drug addicts with nothing more than a grand sense of entitlement and very soft, pudgy air-conditioned over fed bodies to be cared for at great expense. From the Shanties, the poor parts of town, the underprivileged, but conditioned to life, will rise the new America, and progress once more in the world. The Amish, survivors to the end on what they make with their own hands will be part of this group.