What is the Amish community?

0:00 Welcome to Philosophy is not boring by kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn. If you haven't already, tap follow wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode. Okay, Mira. What big question are we wondering about today? Well, think about the last time the power went out at your house during a storm.

0:21 Oh, I remember that. At first I was so mad because the Wi-Fi dropped right in the middle of my game. Right, but then what happened after an hour? We lit some candles, and Dad brought out that dusty board game, and we actually had a ton of fun playing together and telling spooky stories in the dark. Exactly!

0:41 When the modern technology went away, your family actually spent more time looking at each other and talking. Now imagine waking up tomorrow and deciding to get rid of the car, the television, and all the iPads for good. No! Wait, like as a punishment? No, not as a punishment. Imagine you get rid of them because you actually think life is much better without them.

1:07 Better? Without video games or driving to the store? That sounds impossible! That's exactly what we're talking about today. We are exploring a fascinating tradition by asking, why do the Amish live without cars? To understand the Amish, we have to travel back in time. All the way to Switzerland in the 1500s.

1:28 Whoa, that is a really long time ago! Back then, religion wasn't really something you got to question. Whatever country you were born in, you were just automatically part of that official church. As a baby, you were baptised, and no one asked you what you believed. Wait, but babies can't choose anything.

1:50 They can't even choose what they eat for breakfast. Exactly. And a group of Christians called the Anabaptists started saying just that. They believed that faith is a big, serious choice. They thought you shouldn't be forced into it as a baby, but instead, you should only be baptized when you are an adult and can choose it for yourself.

2:12 That makes total sense. It's your own life. It does make sense to us now, but back in 1500 Switzerland, that idea was treated like a terrible crime. The leaders thought everyone had to be exactly the same. So the Anabaptists were persecuted and treated terribly just for wanting to choose. That is so unfair.

2:37 So did they run away? Many of them did. By the 1700s, a lot of them packed up everything and sailed across the ocean. They settled in Pennsylvania because it promised religious freedom. They just wanted to farm their land and practice their beliefs safely. And those people became the Amish. Yep. They grew out of those early Anabaptists.

3:03 And today, there are more than 400,000 Amish people living mostly in North America, still keeping those traditions alive. Wait, 400,000 people? And they really don't drive cars? That's right. If you visit an Amish community, you'll see people driving horse-drawn buggies, wearing plain clothes without zippers, and living without things like public electricity.

3:30 But why? Do they think technology is evil? It sounds like they just stopped time and got stuck in the past. It definitely looks like that from the outside, but it's actually a huge myth. They don't think inventions are evil at all. They just ask a completely different question about technology than the rest of the world does.

3:52 What do you mean? What question do we ask? Well, think about when a new smartphone comes out, or a new fast food delivery app. What do people usually ask about it? We ask if it's faster, or if the screen is brighter, or if it makes life easier, so you don't have to get off the couch. Exactly. For us, the ultimate goal is convenience.

4:16 Faster, easier, more comfortable. We assume that if a machine does the work for us, it's good. But the Amish don't care about convenience. So what is their top priority? Community. For every single new invention, they ask one question. Will this draw our family and community closer together? Or will it pull us apart?

4:40 Wait, huh. I never thought about an invention pulling people apart. I just thought they were cool tools. Let's test it out with a car. A car is an amazing tool. It gets you from point A to point B super fast. Yeah, you can drive 50 miles to the beach or go see a movie in the next town. But that's exactly the danger they see.

5:02 If everyone has a car in their driveway, it's suddenly very easy to leave. You might drive 50 miles away to go shopping at a giant superstore instead of walking down the road to buy supplies from your actual neighbour. If you have a horse and buggy, you can't travel 50 miles in a day very easily. A horse gets tired.

5:23 It keeps you anchored to your local town. You spend Sunday afternoon sitting on the porch, visiting with your neighbours, because they are right there with you. Oh wow. So they say no to the car, because they are saying yes to each other. They're making sure they stay together on purpose. Exactly! They see it as protecting their family.

5:44 And because they rely on each other instead of machines, they can do incredible things. Have you ever heard of an Amish barn raising? A barn raising? What is that? Like using magic to levitate a barn? Not magic, just pure teamwork. Imagine a family's barn burns down in a storm. In the regular world, they would have to hire contractors, rent giant cranes, and wait months.

6:12 In an Amish community, the word goes out, and the next morning hundreds of neighbours arrive. Hundreds? Just to help? Yes. The men bring their hammers, the women bring giant meals, and working together by hand, they build a massive two-story wooden barn from the ground up in a single day. In one day?

6:35 That is insane! But that only works if you actually know all those people. Exactly. If they all owned big private machines and didn't know their neighbours, that barn raising wouldn't happen. They need to need each other. I get that, but still, what if there's a serious emergency? Like someone gets really sick.

6:57 A horse and buggy is way too slow for an ambulance. You are hitting on exactly why the Amish aren't completely anti-technology. In an emergency, an Amish person will absolutely ride in a non-Amish person's car. Or they will use a phone booth at the edge of their property to call a doctor. Oh phew. So they aren't totally against it.

7:19 Right. They just believe that we should control our tools, rather than letting the tools control us. You know, when we first started talking, I thought living without a car or a TV sounded miserable. But when you explain it, it's actually really smart. They're just protecting what matters most. It is really smart.

7:40 And even if we aren't Amish, their philosophy is something we can totally use in our own lives. Right now. How? My mum is definitely not going to let me build a barn in the backyard. Probably not. But think about your tablet or the television. Have you ever been in the living room with your family, but nobody is talking because everyone is staring at their own separate screen?

8:03 Oh, yeah. Sometimes my sister is on her phone, dad is watching the game, and I'm playing on my tablet, and it's completely silent. That is a perfect example of a technology pulling a family apart, even when they are sitting in the exact same room. That's a little sad when you say it out loud. It is. So next time that happens, try asking the Amish question.

8:29 Is this thing bringing my family closer together? Or is it pulling us into our own separate bubbles? Wow, that really changes how I look at my screen time. And here's a mind-bending fact. Even though they live so simply, the Amish are actually one of the fastest growing populations in North America. Seriously?

8:49 Even without the newest gadgets? Yep. Philosophers have argued for centuries about whether technology actually makes us happier. The Amish are showing that maybe you don't need the fastest gadget to have a wonderful life. You just need each other. Alright, Finn, quiz time! Okay, I'm ready. First question.

9:11 What country did the Anabaptists start in back in the 1500s? Next one. In the 1700s, where did many settle to escape persecution? Question three. About how many Amish people live in North America today? Here's number four. What question do the Amish ask before adopting a new invention? Last question.

9:45 What massive building project can an Amish community finish in a single day? Great job! Let's see how you did. The first answer is they started in Switzerland. For question two, many settled in Pennsylvania. Number three, the answer is there are more than 400,000 Amish people today. Question four, they ask if it will bring the community closer together or pull them apart.

10:17 And the final answer is raising a whole barn. I still think I would really miss playing video games with my friends. But I do love the idea of a whole town coming together to build a barn. Me too. It's totally fine to love video games and cars. The philosophy part is just remembering to ask why we use them instead of just using them blindly.

10:42 It shows there isn't only one way to live a good life. If you like learning about the Amish with us, please leave a five-star review. Just scroll down and tap the stars. And be sure to follow this show and our sister shows History and Science is Not Boring, and Maths Is Not Boring. Go give those a listen and a follow as well.

11:03 And if you want a shout out on the show or just want to say hi, email us at hello at kidopoly.com. See you next time on Philosophy is not boring. Bye.