The Amish, conventional medicine, and elite panic

The last seventy-two hours have called attention to some striking observations about the Amish, and how well they really live. For “well,” read “in a wholesome and healthy manner.” Someone challenged nearly every assumption about conventional medicine, by studying the Amish – up close. In reply, both health authorities and the Mainstream Media are crying out about “misinformation.” In short, someone has called the Truth Cops, even after a federal judge has enjoined their activities. How do the Amish flout convention, do they really live longer for that reason, and what can they teach us?

Who are the Amish?

The Amish are an Anabaptist sect, which began among Germanic populations in Switzerland. They take their name from Jakob Ammann, who in 1693 led a group of Swiss and Alsatian Anabaptists to follow a new set of doctrines. These doctrines emphasized submission to God, withdrawal from world networks, and self-sufficiency. Shortly after the century turned, the Amish split – into Amish Mennonites, who don’t withdraw completely from the larger society, and Old Order Amish, who do. Today the Old Order Amish are the “Amish.”

The colony of Pennsylvania attracted the Amish because in Pennsylvania religious persecution did not happen. Thank William Penn for that. Penn founded Pennsylvania almost as a refuge for fellow members of the Society of Friends of the Truth. (History better knows these people as “Quakers.”) Penn and his successors, having a very large land grant, sought to have the land settled. So they offered land on generous terms, and the Amish responded.

Modern wags like to say the Amish froze all their technological development – or rather, acceptance – at the year 1850. This much is true: the Amish do not use electricity, nor telephony either, except for one telephone per village. They have no use for photography, or any sort of labor-saving device. This teaches community members to depend on one another – but not depend on outsiders. (The problem with labor-saving devices is that they break down and need repair – often complex repair. In this and other contexts, the simple life is simply easier.)

What have we found out?

Two days ago, Liz Wheeler recorded a new episode of her show, leading with the latest striking Amish health findings.

In fact she was reporting results of highly informal studies of this population by Steve Kirsch and his Vaccine Safety Research Foundation. Frank Bergman of Slay News had the details less than two weeks ago.

Mr. Kirsch testified before the Pennsylvania Senate on his findings. Amish citizens did not follow any of the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). No masks, no lockdowns, no “social distancing,” no obsessive cleaning – and no vaccines, even when they became available. Not that they never caught Coronavirus Disease – at least 90 percent of them did, according to the Associated Press. But it did not kill them! Kirsch found one Amish man on record as having “died of COVID.” Or did he? He went to hospital, and the hospital said he died of COVID. We know that hospitals were at moral hazard to over-report COVID deaths throughout the “pandemic.” The family, wise as a den of wolves, don’t believe the hospital.

Kirsch heard unconfirmed reports that five Amish people died of COVID. He never confirmed this. But even if that were true, it represented a case-fatality rate ninety times lower than in the general population.

What else don’t the Amish get?

Kirsch followed up with a detailed study of chronic disease among the Amish. And he found no incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorders, Attention Deficit Disorder, autoimmune disease, PANDAS or PANS syndrome, or epilepsy. All these are neurological diseases or syndromes that strike children, sometimes suddenly.

A Twitter accountholder calling himself The Vigilant Fox dropped this thread containing many embedded videos and other statistics.

The reaction to that thread speaks volumes. In response to one particular tweet, The Vigilant Fox offered more provocative insights.

But a vaccine-autism link is not the only possible link between modern living and poor health. The Amish do not, as a rule, eat processed foods, either. They approach life from the point of view of self-sufficiency. Maybe their bishops should also consider that they don’t know what goes into processed foods. Buy from within the community, and you know what you’re getting, because someone can always tell you. Buy from outside, and you don’t. Simple as.

But of course the Mainstream Media scream loudly about this. “Untrue!” cries this article from Agence France-Presse. They also cited studies claiming to show high excess deaths among the Amish after vaccines became widely available. (See these links to studies appearing in 2021 and 2023.) But if those studies relied on official statistics, those might not be reliable, for reasons already shared. Furthermore, even a would-be detractor of Kirsch had to admit that the Amish have many reasons to live better.

Lessons learned

Joseph R. Mercola, D.O., once produced a video cartoon called “The Town of Allopath.” YouTube took it down in their own “mis- dis- malinformation” frenzy, but a Rumble channel operator still maintains it.

That video sums up conventional medicine – and also conventional lifestyle. In this fictional town, the council leaves off Stop signs to save money. Result: a very high incidence of traffic accidents. So a White Smock comes in and gives the verdict: “Skid Marks Disease!” Any modern rheumatologist ought to recognize himself in “Doctor West of the Motor Division.” He prescribes a non-stick coating for the roads. Result: no skid marks, but even more frequent accidents. Then a hermit comes in and offers to put up Stop signs, which he has hand-painted. The council laughs him out of town. But the next time the hermit visits, the town is deserted. Everyone is dead or moved out.

Compare that to the contrast between the “modern” way of life, and the Amish way. What Stop sign equivalents have we done away with, for budget or convenience? How has that redounded to our poor health? What have we to show for reliance on the White Smock Fraternity?

Any cautions?

Do the Amish have a weakness? Perhaps. The Founder Effect – inbreeding when a group of settlers isolate themselves from the rest of humanity – leaves a population susceptible to certain ailments. (Among them: Ellis-Van Creveld Disease, featuring congenital heart malformations, short limbs, extra fingers and toes, and a few other malformations.) But even conditions like these, while more common, are not common enough to represent a serious threat. That population might even breed that threat out eventually. In the meantime, they have learned lessons the rest of us would do well to learn from them.