Dutch Amish, Swiss Amish, and German Amish around the New England area are pretty cultish. Some groups, not all, live like meerkats. They can be cruel and cliquish. Women are treated very poorly, specifically by other women, with pecking orders determining who is in charge. They handle themselves more like a brood of hens.
Mid-American Amish are pretty chill by comparison. Quaker Amish can be a little weird, but for the most part, as long as they are the industrious sort not shy about coming in to town and trading, they are level-headed and avoid the internal politics and squabbles of the New England variety.
As weird as it sounds, the telltale marker of a crazy Amish groups is whether or not English is their primary or secondary language. If they speak another language primarily, it encourages paranoia which means they are gonna be prone to secrecy from modern society. That degree of paranoia breeds in them a "them or us" mentality that is not unlike what Twitter and Facebook harbor.
The more furniture, produce, doilies and knick-knacks they trade, the more you can see yourself sitting down over a cup of hot cider and talking about life.
Hey, I'm just sayin' that not all people might know how varied the Amish peoples are.
It'd be a shame if someone goes to one of the New England types and asks to join only to be put through the hazing and then leave assuming they are all that way.
It depends on the Amish group.
Dutch Amish, Swiss Amish, and German Amish around the New England area are pretty cultish. Some groups, not all, live like meerkats. They can be cruel and cliquish. Women are treated very poorly, specifically by other women, with pecking orders determining who is in charge. They handle themselves more like a brood of hens.
Mid-American Amish are pretty chill by comparison. Quaker Amish can be a little weird, but for the most part, as long as they are the industrious sort not shy about coming in to town and trading, they are level-headed and avoid the internal politics and squabbles of the New England variety.
As weird as it sounds, the telltale marker of a crazy Amish groups is whether or not English is their primary or secondary language. If they speak another language primarily, it encourages paranoia which means they are gonna be prone to secrecy from modern society. That degree of paranoia breeds in them a "them or us" mentality that is not unlike what Twitter and Facebook harbor.
The more furniture, produce, doilies and knick-knacks they trade, the more you can see yourself sitting down over a cup of hot cider and talking about life.
Facepalm. I mean, duh. <slaps forehead>
I really shoulda known that. Thanks for the illumination.
Now I know not all Amish communities are created equal.
Anyhoo, I def find some attraction in the traditions of those addressed in the video. Seen a few docos on those guys, too.
Hey, I'm just sayin' that not all people might know how varied the Amish peoples are.
It'd be a shame if someone goes to one of the New England types and asks to join only to be put through the hazing and then leave assuming they are all that way.
“Anyhoo” is a douche-nozzle term.
Thanks for that nugget of erudite wisdom.