Remote People
by Wang Huning
Wang Huning is a member of the Chinese pulitburo. He is widely considered on of the most powerful theoreticians in China, and works as head of the Chinese Policy Research Office and chairman of the Central Guidance Commission on Building Spiritual Civilization.
In 1991 Wang Huning toured the US as a visiting scholar. He wrote a book about his experiences, called America Against America. Despite being subject to a lot of media attention some years ago, this book has never been fully translated.
In this chapter of America Against America, Huning discusses the phenomenon of Amish People living in the United States, and the implications of having a people who actively resist modernization living in one of the most modern societies in the world. Some of the footnotes were taken from a partial translation of America Against America by the Something Awful user Kangxi.
I am coining the term “remote people” here to describe a concept. In fact, these people are neither remote nor far away. They are right next to the modern cities. When I say “remote people”, I mean the Amish settlements. The Amish are a very peculiar group of people. Their main characteristic is their refusal to modernize, their incompatibility with the highly developed and advanced science and technology, and the preservation of the traditional lifestyle of the 17th and 18th centuries, which is a very interesting historical phenomenon. The modernization of Western society has attracted and impacted the whole world, but not the Amish who were close at hand.
Not far from Iowa City, about ten minutes away by car, there is an Amish settlement called Kolona. With the questions mentioned above, I came to this place. As soon as I entered Kolona, I could see on the highway the 17th and 18th century European-style carriages, drawn by horses, with Amish sitting inside, usually dressed in black. The roads here also have a special design, with defined carriage lanes on both sides of the highway. This is because the Amish do not accept modern cars and prefer to take horse-drawn carriages. It took the government authorities a lot of effort to convince them that horse-drawn carriages are dangerous to ride on the highway, and they were required to install a prominent red sign behind the carriages to remind the drivers to pay attention.
Where did these strange Amish people come from? Why did they come to America? This is an important clue to solving this mystery. The Amish immigrated from Europe. They were formed in the midst of religious turmoil in Europe in the sixteenth century. The Amish had their own religion, but they were persecuted by the Catholic orthodoxy of the time. It is said that the Catholic church suppressed them in a bloody manner, burning them, executing them, imprisoning them, etc. From about 1750 onwards, some Amish began to wander to escape persecution, going to Germany, France, Holland and Russia, but never finding a place to settle. They then decided to join the "New World". Here they could find land and own it. The Amish valued the land so much because they believed it was a visible gift from God, so precious that they could not leave it. This belief is one of the fundamental reasons why the Amish cling to their land and maintain their traditional way of life. Today there are approximately 112 Amish settlements throughout the United States. Although there are doctrinal variations from settlement to settlement, in some places Amish have embraced the tractor and the combine for example, generally they maintain their ancient spirit and way of life.
What is their ancient spirit of life and way of life? The spirit of Amish life is to only adopt something on the basis of its usefulness: clothes to protect from the cold, but not for beauty. Amish once rejected metal buttons as an extravagance and ostentatious display of wealth. The home may not contain colorful paintings, so they often hang calendars with monotonous pictures. This reflects the spirit of Amish life: simplicity, nature and self-sufficiency.
The Amish way of life is so peculiar that it seems somewhat unbelievable to modern people. In most typical Amish settlements, they refuse to use electricity, and thus there is no electricity in these villages. This reflects the spirit of self-sufficiency of the Amish. Long persecuted, the Amish have developed a self-sufficient way of life and do not depend on the outside world. Many refuse to use tractors and combines and use mainly horses as a means of production. Women wear old-fashioned skirts, and no one wears modern jeans. Americans generally have telephones in their homes, yet the Amish do not use telephones. Some local Amish have accepted washing machines and refrigerators, but they do not use electricity from outside, instead they use their own diesel engines to generate electricity. When the Amish go out, they take a horse-drawn carriage. Many Amish have never been to Iowa City, a ten-minute drive, in their lives. To modern eyes, they are a very isolated and backward group. They themselves are not aware of what is happening in the world, but they feel they are living a leisurely and comfortable life, in line with their religious beliefs.
The Amish also have some behaviors that baffle modern people. In winter, men will go out in groups to collect ice from the river and bring it back to preserve it for the summer. They know a good technique for preserving ice, which can last until September of the following year. Traditional ice harvesting techniques replace the function of refrigerators. A similar method of ice preservation was used in ancient China. Today it is not a necessary labor, but Amish see it as a part of keeping their traditions alive. The Amish speak a dialect of German at home, not English, and they have their own schools, but most children do not have access to higher education because their own schools are not of a high educational standard and they are reluctant to leave their community.
The Amish also have a distinctive religious life. They hold events about once a fortnight, rotating between households. Everyone gathers around the house of that family to hold the event. The house that is chosen for the event has to make elaborate preparations and prepare lunch. The Amish are patriarchal and women have few rights and have to listen to the men. Every boy and girl has to learn to harness a horse, which is an important part of their lives.
Over the years, despite the different changes in Amish society, the basic spirit of this group has not changed much. It is strange: why have such a powerful modern civilization failed to influence and transform them? Hasn't Western civilization impacted many very distant peoples?
With this question in mind, I interviewed a writer living in Kolona called John M. Zielinski. He wrote a book called The Amish Across America. He replied: “Imagine a person who grew up in such an environment from an early age and received such a strict education from an early age. It is not easy for him to abandon these ideas. Also, Amish have no higher education and are not engaged in modern work skills, this training is hard work. They feel safest here.” I think that last sentence reflects the most fundamental mentality of the Amish. “On the other hand, the US Constitution guarantees them this right, and the government cannot force them to change their way of life and religion.”
This is a social phenomenon that is really worth considering. In the heartland of global modernization, there are so many people who refuse to modernize. Their remoteness is not geographical, but psychological. They voluntarily separated themselves from modernization. From this we can draw a conclusion: if people refuse to internalize modernization, then modernization cannot intrude upon them. This phenomenon can be seen in different societies. The real power of modernity lies in a person's inner world.
Another issue worth thinking about is “psychological security.” The Amish feel that their lifestyle provides the safest environment, and that changing it will result in crisis and unrest. This psychological fear is also an important reason for their rejection of modernization. Modernity is naturally a process of reforming the old social structures and of making a certain sense of security fade away. If people are afraid of the disappearance of a secure environment, modernization and really any social change will encounter tremendous resistance.
In reconciling these contradictions, society has adopted the method and means of listening to them and not imposing uniformity. It cannot impose uniformity either. If the government forces the Amish to accept modernization, it will only add pressure to itself. There are many examples like the Amish in the United States. People who have their own ways of life that are not in line with the mainstream of society, but they can exist. Part of the contradiction in society is resolved in this kind of half measure. No one blushes for the backwardness of the Amish, and they are considered a reflection of the American spirit. Some management methods in American society are actually unmanaged. Under certain conditions, it is most effective to do nothing.
When I returned, I saw an old couple driving a horse-drawn carriage along the modern highway. They were so peaceful, so self-contained. Is it wrong to be modern? Any choice of lifestyle comes with its benefits and its costs.
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