I'm not saying they have to be like us at all.Only from the legal aspects. I pay Taxes, You pay Taxes, but they don't. I have kids that help on our farm too. I agree wholeheartedly that too many kids nowadays are gettin' fat, eating junk and watching MTV,or Playing Space Station, Internet, etc. I do admire the way they teach respect and discipline too.Their way of life I'm sure was like the time my Mom and dad came up in. Hard work, knew the value of a nickel. My gripe is they are getting a free ride. Guess I'm just a fed up taxpayer. I buy tags for my trucks, I use the roads, they use the roads and don't buy tags (at least not yet in this area). I've seen roads in KY. that are flat tore up by horse drawn buggies. Who pays to fix it? The taxpayers do. There are folks in this Country that need to be griped about, and I'm not about to start raising cane about them. They are getting a ride on the train without buying a ticket too.Don't think for a minute I really dislike these people. I believe a lot of them are honest and work hard as heck. I just feel what's good for the goose is good for the gander. ;-)Sugar Creek":29z2uj1c said:Crowder, I respect your posts and can see your point. BUT!
Each week I have young barefoot Amish kids help me load the sweet corn and tomatoes I buy at the auction. They are respectful, helpful and hardworking. The whole atmosphere is a little like I imagine it was across the country some years ago.
You say they should have to be like us. Have you ever thought some of the old ways are worth preserving. My two girls help me on the farm all the time but many town kids have had their shots but live in front of a TV screen, computer, or video game. They grow up not knowing what life is about and many hold your way of life in scorn and will be a threat to it when they grow up.
Chuck":30cfr3e1 said:I've worked with the Mennonites some, but there is another group I know nothing about. Can anyone tell me about Hutterites? (not sure if I spelled that right.) Thanks.
Bout fell out of my chair.Mahoney Pursley Ranch":26h1m95w said:Sugar Creek------- That poem sounds like a hard workin cattleman to me. Not some pony cart pullin tax dodgin weirdo.
I know they choose to live their lives without creature comforts. I like my Central Heat and A/C,Dish network,Diesel trucks, Real lights in the barn. Got flashlights, and Q-beams if the power goes out, Have a couple of Fireplaces, wood burning stoves too, for a winter emergency. But why put the wear and tear on youself and family to live in the gosh dern Stoneage? Because it's a Tradition? In the modernization and mechanization of our country we had people bustin' their rears, inventing things to make life a little easier on us.Thomas Edison, Henry Ford,Wright Brothers,etc. So why not reap what's out there and use it. Instead of pretending it does not exist? Or shunning the real world?I like riding my horse, but I'd hate to have to ride to town 15 miles each way with a Black Buggy that resembles an old hearse.I have never seen any members of the Baptist, Methodist, Church of Christ, and so on be eliminated from paying their fair share. After all, our men and women in uniform are preserving their freedom as they are you and me. But these people are not footing the bill for F-16's, Aircraft Carriers, Missles and so on. They are like Hobo's catching a ride on a Freight Train.Sugar Creek":2j2pdryp said:I hope I am not beating the horse too long but I find this interesting. I agree with you to a large degree Crowder but my feelings along this line are more stirred by wealthy realtors and those with political advantage who use the roads, waterlines, electric utililities paid for by generations of hard working people to turn a quick buck at no cost to themselves.
Then trucks with loud mufflers cruise once quiet country roads while their owners work out a drug deal. At last they settle back into the double wide with Direct Satilite TV. The smoke from their burning plastic trash fills the evening air with its unique perfume.
While the Amish can be laughed at, we all have our little quirks.
There is an old poem from the Middle Ages, Piers the Plowman.
Behold him, and though he stink of sweat, he feeds the world by his honest toil, and shall scale the walls of heaven long before those in perfumed robes and grand attire. (Or something like that)
Crowderfarms":14k4oemf said:I know they choose to live their lives without creature comforts. I like my Central Heat and A/C,Dish network,Diesel trucks, Real lights in the barn. Got flashlights, and Q-beams if the power goes out, Have a couple of Fireplaces, wood burning stoves too, for a winter emergency. But why put the wear and tear on youself and family to live in the gosh dern Stoneage? Because it's a Tradition? In the modernization and mechanization of our country we had people bustin' their rears, inventing things to make life a little easier on us.Thomas Edison, Henry Ford,Wright Brothers,etc. So why not reap what's out there and use it. Instead of pretending it does not exist? Or shunning the real world?I like riding my horse, but I'd hate to have to ride to town 15 miles each way with a Black Buggy that resembles an old hearse.
Crowderfarms":14k4oemf said:I have never seen any members of the Baptist, Methodist, Church of Christ, and so on be eliminated from paying their fair share. After all, our men and women in uniform are preserving their freedom as they are you and me. But these people are not footing the bill for F-16's, Aircraft Carriers, Missles and so on. They are like Hobo's catching a ride on a Freight Train.
Crowderfarms":2nly7shc said:This has nothing to do with the "Division of Church and State". My comments are not directed as an Organized Church that is tax exempt. Let me set up this scenario. I'm a Methodist. Our money that is collected in the offering plate goes to pay bills.We have fish frys,bluegrass singings, suppers,etc. to raise money. We have special offerings for certain projects,from helping folks down on there luck in the community, there are children's homes for orphans, youth programs.We have a bank account.My church is not out trying to buy vast amounts of farm land to try and form a Colony.These "other" churches, if you will keep all of their revenue to themselves. Self serving IMHO.Many of them are Foreigners, they speak a garbled German/Dutch slang.The ones near here are what I have been told "outcasts" from a sect in Pennsylvania.Doesn't matter.They are IMHO an Industry laughing all the way to a big ol' Mason Jar where they stash the loot.Call me what you want.Why do I have to give up a large part of my income, and constantly have to have my Accountant sift everything for a deduction here or there, so I can keep doing what I love and feed my family,and these people don't have to show any accountability to anyone.Shoot,if there was ever a draft again for the Military, they don't even have to register.They have become an idol in the big City dwellers, oh lets go out and see those little men with the Black beards and we can go buy some Jelly and Strawberries!
Sugar Creek, I'm not replying to beat up on you friends.I do respect their Moral, and child rearing practices. The post was about Amish farms. I know they are probably good stewards of their land. I've never had or heard any Big City Slicker ever say anything about me getting any breaks or farm payments. I've have heard many say they envy us.I'm no urbanite wannabe, like your past Co-workers.My kin fought for this land to be free from the Civil war to even the Gulf war. I just don't want to see it fleeced by an infiltration of sect members getting a free ride.Amish, Mexican,European, American,Whoever.There's a lot of things that are not fair. Big Agribusiness is a threat, and yes I think they are wrong to have the political leverage they hold.I do think big business should be footing the bill instead of the little Guy. But that will never change.We're wearing this thread out. If I stepped on anyone's toes I appologize. Someone else can take the soap box, as I'm off it. It's like beatin a dead horse.Sugar Creek":4lv615xb said:I read all your posts detailing the unfair advantages acrued by the Amish.
Where are the posts complaining about the tax loopholes and political leverage being used by Big Agribusiness Corporations that drive the cost of your inputs higher and the price of what you have to sell lower. They are more of a threat to our way of life than the Amish. I doubt many of the children of the CEO's of these outfits are in Iraq.
For years I worked in our local water utility as manager in a small town of 3000 serving a much larger rural county. Many of the people working in the office were chain smoking, Corvette driving want-to-be urbanites who looked with distain on the type of people making these comments about the Amish on this board and held similar feelings toward them. Many people view all rural people as the recipiants of tax breaks and farm payments they do not earn. I had more education than any of them but because I went home and got my hands dirty each day on the farm I was different and somehow out of place.
I will say again, they are in some ways a breath of fresh air. I have dealt with them in deals involving thousands of dollars only secured with our word or nod. They work hard.
If we were judged by our outcasts and criminals as you are judging them, how would we fare?