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They want to do that because they're sick of modern society. I grant, it ain't easy to find a phone these days, but they make free cell phone plans for 911 only. As I understand it, any deactivated cell phone can still call 911. That's why there are collection boxes for old cell phones so they can be given to battered women.
I'd give up my technology. It'd be hard as heck, but what's worse - giving up something you know is bad for you, or sticking with what you know even if it rots you from the inside out?
Not many who choose to separate from larger society give up technological advances completely, setting a time-frame past which they won't go, dismissing all things past their cut-off date out of hand as leading to their destruction & distraction.
That said, my post was not placing value judgements - you asked for examples of people who did this.
I thought you were asking for examples of how it was successfully or not, done. I believe that if that is your choice you need a community of like-minded people to support the lifestyle, and it is difficult to do it without that support.
Originally posted byCheektowaga_Chester: society and technology are better off.
ComputersWhat's so great about computers? Digital dollars, spying on us, spreading more discontent
The InternetMore computer tech to keep us separated, sell us junk, and profit for a few
Medical TechnologyIt's another double edged sword, and maybe genetically unhealthy people are supposed to die
Cell PhonesYes because before people had them, there was no way to communicate...
Mechanical EfficienciesYet we consume and waste exponentially more energy and pollute the world
Green LivingThe biggest farce I've ever heard.
Safer carsand still not safer than rail or trolleys and cars are still the #1 kill of people under age 40
Safer everything in generalI think people need to stop believing their government run public indoctrination
More distribution through the world of fresh waterReally? I see them using fresh water for profit
Vaccines (for the US and the world)Yet we've super diseases
Satellites What's so great about satellites? For every plus, and I can think of several negatives
No World Wars since 1945 Since 1945, we've been involved in wars (police actions) continuously and killed millions
Much less pollutionWe actually pollute more because everything is throw away w/ planned obsolescence
Diplomacy As we bomb goat farmers into submission for the past sixty-five years and slap embargoes on others
Entertainment and personal pleasure making up a higher percentage of a person's life which breeds discontent as we try and chase happiness via pop culture, back in the day we enjoyed family, friends, and simple things in life that money couldn't buy
Long life expectancyNot past childhood. We've more cancers and powerful diseases today
Less drudgeryas we're enslaved to technology, overpriced real estate and inflation
Less manual laborI've done plenty, it's not that bad including hot dirty factories
Easy to bathe every dayyes, soap and water didn't exist until after 1999
I'd suggest that people with such a belief system do some alternative reading rather than listening to what the government, corporations, and the media are trying to tax you out of or sell to you. Additionally, think about how much energy you're consuming by embracing such technologies that are dependent upon finite resources.
Much of the supposed health claims modern science bandies about today are jokes. In the dark ages, childhood diseases skewed life expectancy. Once one made it through childhood and didn't inhale coal dust all day long or die in childbirth, they usually lived a long life. Furthermore, there's a lot of information about how unhealthy our current diet is and it's linked to a log of illnesses that modern science cannot solve. Organized labor did a lot to make dangerous jobs safer. Furthermore, most of the harm caused in factories sorted itself out with personal protective gear. I've worked some dangerous jobs in saw mills and refractory plants. Technology has stolen a lot of people's lives away, gotten them off self sufficient farms, and simple urban living.
Not every life is supposed to be saved. Death is a part of life. In every facet be it human, flora, or fauna, there's a balance of death/life. It may sound crass, but my dad's family of 13 siblings born between 1914 and 1939 lost two children before age 2. One to a disease and another to a farm accident. Not one of them every seemed traumatized by the event. It seemed to be part of life to them. I've personally known several relatives who were born during the 1880s and too many to list born after that. The only ones who died doing manual labor at an early age were ones who mined coal, sold coal, and worked with carcinogens. Respirators and other simple tech solved those problems. I know more people who were killed in car accidents than work accidents, and my anecdotal evidence is supported by the killer car statistics. While hardly conclusive, the half a dozen relatives I grew up around that were born between 1880 and 1890 died when I was 8 - 12. They all lived into their 90s.
Personally, I've always been stuck between continuously living in 1890 - 1910 urban or rural getting about on trains and trolleys living a simple car free life raising a family and paying virtually no excise taxes and not one cent would go towards income tax, or perpetually being stuck in 1946 America before the urban sprawl and without cars from that period, or at least 95% of the population still getting about on foot, train, or trolley. I mean very limited auto travel and no flippin government maintained roadways! Dirt trails outside the city limits. It's a tough call, but I feel that in those earlier times the state violence of oppressive laws and taxes would be much less felt, and we weren't so enslaved to technology, being exploited for profit, and never ending inflation, the hidden tax of a government printing money it can't back to pay for bigger government.
I live right next to Amish country and I'd love to live that way without the overzealous oppressive region, simple technology that's passed onto several generations, I can fix everything they use, and the huge sense of community providing you follow "God's rules..." That's the only thing I could never get past. Otherwise I'd sign up despite the fact that it's a little older tech than I'd like it to be.
Thank you for reading,
bolillo
48 years old
Pennsylvania German aka Pa. Dutch but not to be confused with Amish and Mennonites.
Last edited by bolillo_loco; 11-21-2013 at 07:29 AM..
Reason: No Rhodes scholar here
I've been working toward this for quite a few years. it's a slow process. Interesting you say that your favorite years are around the turn of the last century--mine too! I've done a lot of reading on the "everyday history" (lifestyles and daily living) from colonial America up through the 1920's. I'd fit right in at about 1880 up to the 1920s.
As for our new/emerging technology today... I lost interest about 30 years ago. And after that I lost interest in even much of the technology that was around when I was a kid in the 1970s. I look at much of what we have today as nuisance. Yes, I have this computer (at one time I was actually a computer major in college), but I seriously wish there were no such things. I've never liked telephones. Cars drive me insane these days. Loud, obnoxious noises of modern "technology" drives me nuts. If you are a person with serenity at the top of your life priorities, you are living in the wrong era. That's certainly me.
As for people living a past lifestyle, they are around, but it's typically in the form of "re-enactors." There are far fewer folks actually living that way (as the Amish). If you haven't already done so, read the "Everyday Life Series" of history books. Great stuff. There are 5 total in the series and the only one I thought was not so great was the book that covered the early 19th century. But they all have great info.
As I said, I've been slowly working toward a simpler, less "techie" lifestyle. At some point, I won't have this computer, I won't have a telephone, and if I can find a practical way to do it, I won't even have a car (at least a modern car), and I won't have a lot of things that I consider clutter and unwanted complications to life.
Anyway, good luck. Don't listen to the people who will constantly bash your goals. Just smile at them and say, "to each his/her own."
Couple of more thoughts on this topic, since it's one of my favorite subjects to discuss:
If, like me, you question the direction our technology has taken us and the direction society has gone in general, keep in mind that the "seeds" of our modern world were actually planted in the late Victorian era to a large extent (the period from about 1870 through the Edwardian era of the 1910s). The technological advances exploded, the social climate "exploded," the idea of consumerism exploded, the concept of specialization in the workforce really took hold, the migration from largely rural/small town to largely urban really took off. After reading more extensively on this era, I sort of have a love/hate relationship.
What I don't like about it is that our modern societal mindset was born and grew quickly. It really was the infancy of our pushbutton society. Corporate America was really spawned in this era and the big push was to make life largely automated. Little thought was given to the downside. This is the era that went from breakfast as a meal to breakfast as a box/bowl of corn flakes. Many of the everyday items in the late Victorian era would be very familiar to us today (such as boxed breakfast). No, most folks didn't have electricity, phones, etc, but much of what we do have today was born then--it just took awhile to become commonplace.
On the other hand, what I DO like about the era around the turn of the 20th century was the point the common man/woman's lifestyle was at, technologically. It wasn't as tough as, say, colonial America, yet wasn't as boring, lackluster, and automated as it is from about 1930 onward. People still had to put forth an effort in their daily lives. Traveling to Europe was still an undertaking and grand adventure. Today, our only adventure is the latest video game. For that matter, traveling a couple hundred miles was an adventure for some back then.
Also, I'm very drawn to the sense of style for both men and especially women from about 1880 through the 1920s. I love the way they dressed, presented themselves, spoke, interacted, etc up through the flapper age of the 20s and into the early 30s. I look at the people around me today (including myself) and shake my head. Absolutely boring. Hairstyles. Clothing. Demeanor. Ugggh. The Gibson girl styles, Edwardian styles, flapper girls, and the men as well, had some real class. I have hundreds and hundreds of photos from those times. I'm a part-time artist and love to draw/paint Gibson Girls and flappers. Also, the architecture of the 1870 - 1910 era was astounding. The Victorian Queen Anne style, Second Empire, Gothic Revival, and similar styles were simply wonderful. Those old homes have an aura and beauty that hasn't been matched since.
Anyway, I'm pretty much obsessed with those times... and since you brought the topic up, I have no problem ranting on and on about them. What I've done personally to work myself in that direction, in addition to developing some of the everyday skills from way back when, is to collect the items that are still at least made that were around in those times as well--as well as hitting antique shops. If I can't actually go back, I can at least give the appearance in my home that I have. It makes me happy. There is something magical about looking around the room, lit softly by oil lamp, that has been made to look as though it were in about 1900. No TVs, no phone, no computer, nothing electric, with all Victorian wall schemes and furniture. Ahh, yes... I can at least do that much. I spend a lot of happy hours in that room (and I'm remodeling a second room right now). Someday, my whole home (I have blueprints for a Queen Anne home in my bookcase) will be a dedication to that era. Now if I could just find a Gibson Girl to go with the room.
In the 1970's my wife and I lived in this tipi (see the bear?) for two years on my property in the mountains in Northern Idaho close to the Canadian border. We had no running water and no electricity and only a campfire for cooking. We did have an outhouse. We had to walk a mile through the woods everyday to get to our vehicle to drive 25 miles to work. It was snowshoes during the winter months. Temps would regularly drop below zero in dead winter. During the summer we bathed in the nearby river. In the cold months we took showers at a country store that rented showers and towels for a dollar. Does this qualify?
Sidenote: Both of our sons were born there. But by that time I had built a 'primitive' cabin. We did upgrade to a wood burning stove.
Why did you put yourself through this ordeal? I think I would have rather have been in prison. Hot showers, internet, basketball games, hot meals, (and a boyfriend named Big Daddy....)
This post reminds me of the guy at work who brags about how much unpaid overtime he puts in the evenings and on the weekends. What a trooper.
Couple of more thoughts on this topic, since it's one of my favorite subjects to discuss:
If, like me, you question the direction our technology has taken us and the direction society has gone in general, keep in mind that the "seeds" of our modern world were actually planted in the late Victorian era to a large extent (the period from about 1870 through the Edwardian era of the 1910s). The technological advances exploded, the social climate "exploded," the idea of consumerism exploded, the concept of specialization in the workforce really took hold, the migration from largely rural/small town to largely urban really took off. After reading more extensively on this era, I sort of have a love/hate relationship.
What I don't like about it is that our modern societal mindset was born and grew quickly. It really was the infancy of our pushbutton society. Corporate America was really spawned in this era and the big push was to make life largely automated. Little thought was given to the downside. This is the era that went from breakfast as a meal to breakfast as a box/bowl of corn flakes. Many of the everyday items in the late Victorian era would be very familiar to us today (such as boxed breakfast). No, most folks didn't have electricity, phones, etc, but much of what we do have today was born then--it just took awhile to become commonplace.
On the other hand, what I DO like about the era around the turn of the 20th century was the point the common man/woman's lifestyle was at, technologically. It wasn't as tough as, say, colonial America, yet wasn't as boring, lackluster, and automated as it is from about 1930 onward. People still had to put forth an effort in their daily lives. Traveling to Europe was still an undertaking and grand adventure. Today, our only adventure is the latest video game. For that matter, traveling a couple hundred miles was an adventure for some back then.
Also, I'm very drawn to the sense of style for both men and especially women from about 1880 through the 1920s. I love the way they dressed, presented themselves, spoke, interacted, etc up through the flapper age of the 20s and into the early 30s. I look at the people around me today (including myself) and shake my head. Absolutely boring. Hairstyles. Clothing. Demeanor. Ugggh. The Gibson girl styles, Edwardian styles, flapper girls, and the men as well, had some real class. I have hundreds and hundreds of photos from those times. I'm a part-time artist and love to draw/paint Gibson Girls and flappers. Also, the architecture of the 1870 - 1910 era was astounding. The Victorian Queen Anne style, Second Empire, Gothic Revival, and similar styles were simply wonderful. Those old homes have an aura and beauty that hasn't been matched since.
Anyway, I'm pretty much obsessed with those times... and since you brought the topic up, I have no problem ranting on and on about them. What I've done personally to work myself in that direction, in addition to developing some of the everyday skills from way back when, is to collect the items that are still at least made that were around in those times as well--as well as hitting antique shops. If I can't actually go back, I can at least give the appearance in my home that I have. It makes me happy. There is something magical about looking around the room, lit softly by oil lamp, that has been made to look as though it were in about 1900. No TVs, no phone, no computer, nothing electric, with all Victorian wall schemes and furniture. Ahh, yes... I can at least do that much. I spend a lot of happy hours in that room (and I'm remodeling a second room right now). Someday, my whole home (I have blueprints for a Queen Anne home in my bookcase) will be a dedication to that era. Now if I could just find a Gibson Girl to go with the room.
Check out "Edwardian Farm" and "Victorian Farm", both on YouTube. Originally shown on BBC2, these series feature three people who live the life of farmers from these eras for one year, assisted by local experts in various fields (pun intended). Both are beautifully photographed. The same team also was involved in "Wartime Farm", about farming during WWII. Highly recommended!
In the 1970's my wife and I lived in this tipi (see the bear?) for two years on my property in the mountains in Northern Idaho close to the Canadian border. We had no running water and no electricity and only a campfire for cooking. We did have an outhouse. We had to walk a mile through the woods everyday to get to our vehicle to drive 25 miles to work. It was snowshoes during the winter months. Temps would regularly drop below zero in dead winter. During the summer we bathed in the nearby river. In the cold months we took showers at a country store that rented showers and towels for a dollar. Does this qualify?
Sidenote: Both of our sons were born there. But by that time I had built a 'primitive' cabin. We did upgrade to a wood burning stove.
Sounds like something from "Mother Earth News" I used to dream of being self sufficient on 5 acres. I don't think I would have gone THAT far though.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,938 posts, read 36,935,179 times
Reputation: 40635
Yes, there are more homesteader types out there than we think, I believe. Isn't there a forum on here about it? They're not all in AK.
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For that matter, traveling a couple hundred miles was an adventure for some back then.
