By Kevin Williams
I'm excited to share with you a long form essay I did for Aeon Magazine that was published today.
Have you ever wondered what Amish culture/society will look like over the years ahead? Â I give you my prognostications and thoughts in this essay. Â And I give you an interesting take on the role of the internet in Amish life. Â Click here to read my essay!
I actually think Aeon fumbled the headline on their Facebook page: "Is it Okay For the Amish to Run Etsy Stores" (I'm not being negatively critical, one of the things I like about Aeon is that they really do foster intelligent conversation, etc).  Of course it is OK for the Amish to run an Etsy store. It's okay for the Amish to drive a car and get electricity and wear Lycra if they want.  I doubt many Amish would think those things are okay, but my point is that it is their choice.  Outsiders often super-impose their view of what the Amish should be on the Amish and that really isn't fair.
I hope you enjoy the essay!
Carla
I loved the article. I especially appreciate how you can bring out the many layers of Amish life, and not painting them all with one broad brush.
Linda from KY
Excellent article, Kevin! I really enjoyed reading it!
felicia
"The weekly Amish newspaper The Budget is full of advertisements for products you won’t find anywhere else, products that craft a compromise: cell phones without wireless access, computers without internet access, and Kindle-type reading devices that don’t require a connection to load the texts. There are Amish voicemail services, Mennonite phone‑dating services. Anything to make life easier that doesn’t involve the internet. But that task is becoming more difficult with each passing day."
I have been looking for a 1999 era cell phone with NO internet, NO camera, NO texting, NO gps. Could you please provide the contact info. from the ad in the budget you referenced.