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Helsing posted:It is really fascinating to see an outsider interpretation of the Amish and you can really see how he is using them to make arguments about the failures of centralization. From the perspective of the Chinese government the Amish might seem like an unacceptable liability because they refuse to fully integrate with the larger society, but Wang clearly thinks that this is a superior system when he writes that: "Some management methods in American society are actually unmanaged. This is a more effective management method under certain conditions." It seems really odd to me that he thinks of the amish as ethnic minorities. they certainly don't think of themselves as non-white. they may seem technologically backwards now, but even in the 1930s the average us farmer still used horses for farming instead of tractors; when the amish settled in iowa they wouldn't have been seen as inferior technologically. the only time the amish were ever discriminated against was for speaking german during wwi. they are allowed to reject modernity now because they participated in settling 'empty' lands from which the indians had been removed, and because they are actively participating in capitalism. they may still use horse-drawn carriages, but they put the proceeds from their organic produce and hand-made furniture into modern banks. they aren't really separately managed economically, they still take out loans from banks like the rest of farmers in the us. they may not use atms, but local banks have teller windows that can fit horse-drawn carriages.  also, thank you for translating this kangxi. i'm not sure i've read anything quite like it before.
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Dec 1, 2019 01:28
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Glazius posted:This is a fascinating read! he mentions a 'long-time worker'. plus, he doesn't need to spend that much time farming with all the tractors, + his wife, + his father, + his kid (who definitely did pig related chores for 12+ years). as i understand it, migrant labor on farms is usually for crops that need to be picked by hand like fruits and vegetables. you don't need that much in the way of hand labor for corn and soybeans if you have modern tools, which this farmer clearly does.
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Dec 29, 2019 04:04
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