Late last week Maabarot voted to remain a kibbutz. You probably heard my big old sigh of relief. I expected the vote to go the other way and was very pleasantly surprised.
What am I talking about? A self-assembled committee put together a proposal to start paying wages for the work the members do just like in the real world. And just like in the real world, the more important your job, the more money you would make. Then the members would pay taxes back to the kibbutz to keep the place running. For months we’ve been bombarded with strident propaganda about how we could forge a better kibbutz. This got right up my nose: I think the kibbutz is already good enough.
Capitalism is a great system, especially for over-achievers, providing prosperity to its citizens. And for anyone who wants to live like that, there are plenty of cities to choose from. But it’s not the kibbutz way. Here we get a monthly budget, everybody gets the same no matter what they do and everyone’s equal. I like this about the place, the Fantasy Island aspect: no material worries, not much money, but enough to get by and even save a little. I didn’t want to give it up to start worrying about scraping by and paying bills in my old age. And I didn’t want to see the unemployed begging for food in front of the dining hall.
I thought I was in the minority, but apparently I wasn’t. The proposal was overwhelmingly rejected and I am grateful. Life is good here on Fantasy Island, so why fix what ain’t broke?
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