Amish yuppies? (was: debunking nutrition myth)

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----- Original Message -----

From: " Heidi Schuppenhauer " <heidis@...>

> >That's not how it works. If you spend less money on food, you'll just

> >spend more money on something else, which would result in no harm to

the

> >economy (and in fact a net gain, in the sense that you are better

off),

> >or save it, which would help the economy.

>

> Are you sure? There seems to be a trend toward " simpler, slower " in

> some circles, which is the opposite of the " more, faster " spiral

> we've been in. If everyone consumes less, they might decide

> to work less, and maybe we'll end up more Amish-like.

If they reduce their production by more than they reduce their

consumption then yes, that would be bad for the economy, but now

you're--as would say--moving the goalposts. IIRC, we were talking

about reducing food expenditures, not scaling back production.

> Now in terms of net happiness, I'd guess the Amish are

> as well off as a yuppie in Bellevue, but in terms of the standard

> economic indicators, an Amish-type life wouldn't be good for the

> stock market.

I'm not quite sure what a yuppy is, but I'd rather live the life that I

have planned than the Amish one. Besides, I'm still counting on radical

life extension, and there's just no possible way that could happen with

everyone doing the Amish thing. The chance to double my lifespan--or

better--just makes the choice that much easier.

> I'm not saying anyone will end up on THAT extreme, but that

> would be the economic trend. In our case we are working

> less, and consuming less. That seems to be the trend

> with some of our compatriots also. I know it doesn't

> relate directly to " spending less on food " , but that is

> how it seems to be working out. Psychologically

> one gets disconnected from the whole " work/consume "

> power grid.

Perhaps that one does, but this one doesn't, and I think that you're

just projecting your anomalous preferences onto others. I believe that

most people would more likely save the money or spend it on something

else. They might even become more productive due to the superior

nutrition. The membership of this forum is somewhat self-selected in

that a lot of them found out about NT through the whole

back-to-nature/organic/naturopathy movement. I'd be curious to know how

many people here got into NT purely for health purposes, and then got

into the ideological aspects, instead of the other way around. Any

former modernophiles who've developed a serious desire to settle down in

Dutch Country as a result?

By the way, for tagging purposes, is this political?