Word: degania
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...Degania's elders don't consider the departure from socialism a failure. "Many Israelis see us as yet another broken symbol," says the kibbutz manager. "But we don't feel that. For us, it's an evolution. We had to change...
...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. Says Gal-Sarai: "Kibbutzniks from the other places are bringing good business to Tel Aviv's shrinks." Koperstein, who was not raised at Degania, recalls the time when, at age 7, he woke from a nightmare in the dorm...
That treasure was Israel's self-image. After independence in 1948, the kibbutzniks were seen as the new breed of Israeli. They discarded Europe's deathly pallor and became bronzed, idealistic pioneers. Degania, which had been founded in 1910 by 12 Jews escaping Russian persecution, was the ideal. Its members were beset by malaria, cattle thieves and bouts of self-doubt. Yet they greened the stony hills with citrus groves. At night in the communal dining hall they argued passionately over the grand themes of the late 20th century: the individual vs. the group, women's rights, capitalism vs. socialism...
Only 1.7% of Israelis live on kibbutzim, but their influence pervades life and culture. For years, kibbutzniks were the nation's heroes. Moshe Dayan, Defense Minister during the Six-Day War, was born in Degania, and many military leaders and legislators also emerged from the kibbutzim. 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...
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." Some naive kibbutzniks, he says, need to be taught how to open a bank account and use an ATM card. 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...