> The solution is to change our lifestyle, I
>think that we should be looking to the Amish for direction and for
>technology.
The Amish, however, are dependent upon the larger society and its fossil
fuel inputs for many aspects of their life. They use modern medical
facilities, for example, getting a ride to a hospital from a neighbor when
necessary. They buy the cloth from which their clothing is made. They use
refrigerators operated by kerosene. They use kerosene lights. They buy
much of their food: which is transported of course by fossil fuels, and
grown by fossil fuels too. They buy fossil-fuel based fertilizer.
It's a total misconception that the Amish are not dependent on fossil
fuels. Maybe less dependent than many of us, yes. But still; that
dependency is there and it is very important to their way of life.
(How do I know this? I used to live in Delaware, near a large Amish
community. I now live in northern Pennsylvania, near a very conservative
Mennonite community and near some Amish as well. I have had a chance to
become familiar with Amish and conservative Mennonite life by personal
observation and by being friends with some of the people.)