Vast numbers of "modern" Australian people cannot put a roof over their head, put petrol in their cars, and provide for their families without government assistance, and many others are drowning in debt for these basics.
This astounding in a rich warm weather country at the hieght of its Economic development.
All the while a group of people can essentially live an 18th Century life without labor-saving technologies, electricity, telephones, education beyond the eighth grade, and all seem to be able to provide houses and food for their large families.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish
It just goes to show what hard work ethics together independence and a high degree of freedom from the debt creation cycle of fiat currencies, fractional reserve, and income taxes can can achieve.
Maybe the power of Austrian economics but not libertarianism. Their society is very socialist and they do not appreciate individualism as it will mess with their day-today life.
Yes I agree - they are not liberals by any stretch of the imagination, they shun individualism and are essential socialists.
However the fact that they can provide the basics of life using 200 year old technology, when so many modern westerners need a government handout is amazing.
the Amish operate their own schools, which are typically one-room schoolhouses with teachers from the Amish community....when comparing standardized test scores of Amish students, the Amish have performed above the national average for rural public school pupils in spelling, word usage, and arithmetic. They performed below the national average, however, in vocabulary..
also from Wiki
"In 1961, the United States Internal Revenue Service announced that since the Amish refuse United States Social Security benefits and have a religious objection to insurance, they need not pay these taxes. In 1965, this policy was codified into law.[22] "
Friedreich:Their society is very socialist and they do not appreciate individualism as it will mess with their day-today life.
Their society may be collectivist in nature but it's completely voluntary. It's just a group of people held together by certain set of values. Just like an anarcho-capitalist society would be held together by a certain set of values.
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rodfromaustralia: Yes I agree - they are not liberals by any stretch of the imagination, they shun individualism and are essential socialists. However the fact that they can provide the basics of life using 200 year old technology, when so many modern westerners need a government handout is amazing. the Amish operate their own schools, which are typically one-room schoolhouses with teachers from the Amish community....when comparing standardized test scores of Amish students, the Amish have performed above the national average for rural public school pupils in spelling, word usage, and arithmetic. They performed below the national average, however, in vocabulary.. also from Wiki "In 1961, the United States Internal Revenue Service announced that since the Amish refuse United States Social Security benefits and have a religious objection to insurance, they need not pay these taxes. In 1965, this policy was codified into law.[22] "
I wonder if we could get libertarianism to be considered a religion so that we can object to the Social Security tax on "religious grounds". What ever happened to equality under the law?
"I cannot prove, but am prepared to affirm, that if you take care of clarity in reasoning, most good causes will take care of themselves, while some bad ones are taken care of as a matter of course." -Anthony de Jasay
For some reason it has always surprised me that the State has ever given any credence to religious institutions and communities seeing as they are citizens and just as taxable as the next group of people. Hopefully, "tax exemption" will never be reclassified as "tax evasion."