"The Simple Life"

Yesterday I drove to Nappanee, Indiana with my family in order to visit a historical Amish farm.  We went with the idea and curiosity of learning more about their simple life. The farm that we visited (Amish Acres) was a fully functioning Amish farm for three generations until it was recreated into a historical place where the "English" (non-Amish) can come and learn about the Amish lifestyle and culture.  There are currently about a quarter million Amish in the US.  The Amish sect is only present in the Americas (US, Canada and South America) and not in Europe.  The Amish came to the Americas from Germany in 1737, in search for religious freedom from the church and the state.  They are a very peaceful people group, and they are completely opposed to war.  To this day, the Amish still have certain traditions that serve as "silent opposition" towards past German actions.  For example, the men and the women never have buttons on their coats or dresses. This is because the German military had coats with buttons.  Also, you will never see an Amish man with a mustache. As you probably know, the German military had big bushy mustaches.

The Amish claim to live a "simple life". They have no electricity in their homes, have no access to media, are mostly comprised of farmers, and are extremely self sufficient. They work hard, mostly involving physical labor. Laundry, baking and cleaning, (which in our society would consume very little time) each take an entire day to complete. The Amish people desire to maintain their simple life, however from the outside looking in, their efforts to avoid the modern world in actuality make their lives much more complex. In the last years, farming has been decreasing as an occupation among the Amish. They have found jobs in factories and other places because farming can't support their families anymore.  This poses the problem of transportation. Since they can't drive to work or bring their horses, the Amish have compromised by riding bikes or paying people to drive them to work.

In my mind, the Amish lifestyle seems incredibly complicated.    

The Amish believe that the more material possessions that one has, the less he has. They believe that the modern machines and technology that are supposed to make our lives easier, actually distract or diminish from faith and family.

What interests me is that from our point of view, their lifestyle seems rather complex while for them the exact opposite is true.  So what is a simple life? Would our lives be considered simple by using a washing machine and dryer to do laundry in an hour, or would theirs be considered simple by taking the day to complete the same task manually? In this case, is simple the same thing as old-fashioned?

Amish farmhouse 

Amish buggy

Typical Amish bedroom