Time magazine reports on the Degania kibbutz’ decision to abandon socialism and allow the private ownership of property, a move many kibbutzim in Israel have been making in response to low productivity and the abandonment of their youth.
From the article:
The kibbutz was a socialist dream. But Degania’s manager, Tzali Koperstein, says, “From the start, it was never equal. It was a fake equality.” Some toiled hard in Degania’s diamond-cutting tool factory and in the fields; others slacked off. And as Israeli society began to value creativity and free enterprise over socialism, Degania lagged behind.
Once, everyone earned the same wage, did the jobs they were assigned, and kibbutz elders held the purse strings. Now, says Degania’s manager, “we are still protecting the weak, but everyone has the responsibility of earning their own living.” … Elders learned a lesson in capitalism that any kid with a lemonade stand could have taught them: the individual works harder for himself than for the collective. Factory output has jumped.
The kibbutz’s experiment failed for other reasons. Israeli youth felt stifled and left. “Kibbutz life is peaceful and rich,” says Koperstein. “But it came at a high price. You gave up individual needs. The idea of having someone telling you what to think, what to study, what work to do–it’s like having four walls closing you in.” In some kibbutzim (not Degania), children were separated from parents and raised in collective dormitories. … Koperstein, who was not raised at Degania, recalls the time when, at age 7, he woke from a nightmare in the dorm and ran home through the darkness to be comforted by his parents. “At 3 a.m., the wardens came knocking on the door to bring me back. I couldn’t raise my kids that way,” he says.
{ 10 comments }
It is not a surprising story but we can be thankful that the Israeli experiment was so much more noble than certain other ones of the last century. It was a largely voluntary proposition.
Entropy: The Case For Optimism
As you rejoice the purported demise of this socialist experiment, remember that it was a noble experiment. People are not forced to live on kibbutzim. As in any family on any given day, there is inequality: some work, some slack off. The important point is that no one is a prisoner.
“…The important point is that no one is a prisoner.”
Except the taxpayers whose hard earned cash was spent on one more socialist dream.
israel should apply this newly discovered free market stuff to the rest of their economy, which is currently listed as 37th on the economic freedom index.
Catholic monastaries operate under a voluntary socialist model and have been successful, but most such enterprises, especially as they become larger and larger, are bound to fail.
If a kibbutz is a voluntary private association, isn’t their collective land ownership itself a form of private property?
By your standard of “private property,” the collective ownership of productive assets by a fictional entity (the corporation) should produce the very same incentive problems among its hired agents as the kibbutz does among its members.
But Kevin, the kibbutzim is not organized like a profit-maximizing corporation. They are only now moving in that direction. Traditionally, there is no concern on a kibbutz for maximizing social value of resources–especially of human capital–and output. That seems to be changing, which means it is just now beginning to take on some characteristics of the corporation.
“The important point is that no one is a prisoner.”
Except the children, of course…
In some kibbutzim (not Degania), children were separated from parents and raised in collective dormitories. … Koperstein, who was not raised at Degania, recalls the time when, at age 7, he woke from a nightmare in the dorm and ran home through the darkness to be comforted by his parents. “At 3 a.m., the wardens came knocking on the door to bring me back.
the profits come from the US taxpayer regardless of the net output
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