Quizzer 202 to End

What were the reasons that Brende ultimately gave up his car? What did they use that money for?
He gave it up because the insurance he would have needed to buy would have become too expensive for their need. They also felt it was time to get the full meaning of minimizing the use of technology and live like the others in the community. They chose to purchase a horse that could pull a buggy for them for their mode of transportation. The horse could be used for minor farming needs and obviously for the Eric and Mary’s primary transportation.
Why was Mary choosing to avoid riding on the horse buggy as the book goes on? What other time in her life did she have similar effects?
She learns that she is allergic to the horse and tries to avoid it at all costs. It put her in a very bad situation considering that it was their only way of mobility now that they don’t have a car. When she was a young girl her bedroom window was facing a horse farm and the wind would carry the dander into her room, she never fully put the pieces together that it was the horses that she was allergic to.
What jobs did Brende and Mary take when they went to live in Boston for a short period of time after their time at the Minimite Community?
Mary took another accounting job to make some income. Brende was actually a taxi driver for a while, and then switched to a rickshaw driver, and at the same time as these jobs they chose to start a Bed and Breakfast out of their house, while also making soap to sell or barter with others.
Did they choose to go back to the Minimite type of lifestyle or choose to go to the present day technologically driven one?
They tried to help start up a new type of minimal use of technology community but it ultimately didn’t work. They then moved into a new village that they could practice very little use of technology and use the techniques they learned from their time at the Minimite farmland. To this day they still stay away from technology like televisions, and computers. They try to come up with alternatives to every form of technology out there and see how far they can get from technology if it would be somewhat productive.
According to Brende what are the three reasons for moving toward a lifestyle of minimization?
1. “A modern automatic machine is no mere inert tool.” It takes a lot of time and money just to keep it working. It gobbles up energy. It costs a lot more money than it would to do a task yourself.
2. “Avoiding Usurpation”- takes away jobs that us humans should be doing.
3. “Recalling the need or end in view” subverts very purpose for which it was deployed. The unforeseen costs and problems may actually slow us down rather than speed up the task at hand.