Last week we spent a night at a Kibbutz, the Kibbutz Lavi to be precise. Before arriving I laboured under the misapprehension that accommodation at a Kibbutz would fall, on a scale of luxury that stretches between a Bedouin tent and a youth hostel, somewhere close to the former. Not at all! The place was more like a Holiday Inn.<\/p>\n
It was staffed by Kibbutz members one of whom gave a talk on Kibbutz life in the evening. Although many Kibbutzim have strayed from the founders’ ideals, the one I was at hadn’t, I was assured. The young man delivering the talk was a zealot; he waxed lyrical about the life and only became a trifle testy after some probing questions. Members’ incomes are placed into a pool from which the expenses of the Kibbutz are paid; each member is given pocket money to meet his “needs”. Needs are not self defined as far as I could tell. Many Kibbutzim are run on non-religious lines, but not Lavi; it adheres to Judaism – it practices a type of Kosher Communism.<\/p>\n
Members who shirk work are subjected to “peer pressure” and, although any member can leave, generally they are not thrown out for misbehaving.<\/p>\n
I can’t say it doesn’t work, since our stay was as enjoyable as it would have been at any good hotel. Concessions have been made to Capitalism, though: for example, our speaker was the lawyer for the Kibbutz, a sure sign of collaboration.<\/p>\n
And the Kibbutz could not operate as it does without the underpinnings of a Capitalist system to provide people to sell to. Not unlike a pacifist living peacefully in a society rendered safe because it employes soldiers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last week we spent a night at a Kibbutz, the Kibbutz Lavi to be precise. Before arriving I laboured under the misapprehension that accommodation at a Kibbutz would fall, on a scale of luxury that stretches between a Bedouin tent … Continue reading