BOOM: Oil, Money, Cowboys, Strippers, and the Energy Rush That Could Change America Forever by Tony Horwitz

Author:Tony Horwitz [Horwitz, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B00LH5G1F0
Published: 2014-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

“A honeymoon after it?”

“Oh, no, no, no, no.”

I kept at this call-and-response just for the pleasure of hearing her repeat this, and caught the hint of a smile when, after a litany of no’s, I asked whether alcohol was allowed. “Yes. If men want a beer in the house, that’s okay.”

Women relaxed by making quilts together. I nodded appreciatively and said I was an admirer of Amish quilts. We discussed a few other matters and then, as I was about to go, she said quietly, “Would you like to buy something?”

I smiled noncommittally, curious where this would lead. She spoke in German to one of her daughters and told me the teenager would take me to meet someone in a separate building. It all felt vaguely illicit, as if a drug deal were about to go down.

The teenager led me across the colony, blushing and stammering in reply to my questions. All I learned was that newlywed women moved to their husband’s colony, and anyone who married an “outside” person, meaning a non-Hutterite, could no longer belong to a colony.

Then we reached an apartment where she introduced me to an elderly woman identified only as “Grandmother.” She wore dark brown, unlike the other women, who favored dark purple, and she seemed very stern. Ignoring my attempts at pleasantries, she nodded at another woman who sat with a black plastic garbage bag at her feet. At this, the second woman pulled a white quilt from the bag.

“Made from the down of our own ducks and geese,” Grandmother said. The quilt was composed of identical blank squares. “Very few make quilts this way, very warm and well done.”

I wasn’t in the market for a quilt, but asked how much. “A queen for $280, a king for $330,” she said. “Do you want to buy?”

I told her I’d have to consult my wife, stalling in hopes I’d learn more about Hutterite life. Glancing around the apartment, I spied two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. The only adornment was a plaque on the wall with the words Hope Faith Love. There was a phone but no TV or electronic appliance.

“Everyone the same, only what we need,” Grandmother said. Apart from a few family items, all property was shared. I asked if this applied to the money from quilts. “We do not like to speak of this.” She frowned and asked again, “Do you want to buy?”

I demurred once more, promising to call my wife and return if I could. At this, she spoke in German to the teenager, who quickly escorted me out the door. I later learned that personal money was a divisive issue among Hutterites. Some colonies forbade it altogether, while others allowed modest sums to be earned.

Quilt peddling aside, I left the Loring Colony feeling I’d glimpsed a rare vestige of almost pure communism. Hutterites’ faith and agrarian ways might not fit Karl Marx’s industrial, anti- religious vision. But in other respects, I imagined Karl would be impressed—if startled, like

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.