Yes, but the kibbutz was only lovely and a "shining light" if you were able to ignore the fact of the dispossessed Palestinians, who of course were never allowed to become kibbutz members although increasingly they were employed for a pittance on a variety of kibbutz enterprises. All that warm and egalitarian socialism was being played out on a background context of misery, imprisonment, torture, killing and expropriation of the houses, orchards, lands and water resources of the indigenous inhabitants, who ended up in their pathetic refugee camps over the borders. I find it quite offensive that someone can extol the "socialism" of the kibbutz without a mention of the Palestinians. In the same way, the old racist left in Australia also ignored Aboriginal conditions and rights. When segments of the left migrated to set up their own version of a utopian socialist kibbutz in Paraguay,led by William Lane, one rule was that they not mingle with or intermarry the indigenous people. It always seems worse when racism comes from progressives espousing socialist values. How very hypocritical we humans are.

So true Kang. Socialists are the biggest hypocrites.

Perhaps the Zionist kibbutzniks might now realise that thay were not God's chosen people after all.

So Kibbutzim are going the way of co-operatives,mutual provident societies and building societies. Such is the vanity of the Abrahamic faiths in the futile belief that all will willingly work together.

While it seems obvious that socialism on the kibbutz is dying, myopia and prejudice seem to thrive on the web. why is every comment a function of dispossesion of palestinians and so on. If in the context of an artile on kibbutzim you're going to mention palestinian disposession - why not mention the number of kibbutzim that were targeted by palestinian violence? the 1920s and 30s, while the kibbutzim were being establised was no picnic, as they endured countless attacks, murders etc - under british rule, mind you, not israeli.

not every article is an excuse to bash israel. get a life.

VIOET....

Interestingly the Old Testament is not about 'Socialism' in the sense you suggest, nor was it as the Kibbutzim are running it. The Kibbutz are actually closer to the embryonic Christians than old testament Jews.

Ancient Israel had a fairly tight code on religious issues, but not much is said about limiting private enterprise, in fact the only 'socialistic' criteria I've found was that the owners of capital were not to seek the last skeric of 'shareholder value' from their fields so that the 'alien and the fatherless, the widow and the orphan' could glean grain for their own survival. In fact, that was the first example of WORK FOR THE DOLE :) they still had to go and gather the leftover grain themselves.. my goodness the Coalition have caught up with ancient Israel at last :)

The problems with Kibbutz's is that they would stifle indiividualism quite a bit I guess. But the point has been well made by various posters that 'we' are usually the main problem with any kind of 'legislated' communal socialism. The idea that we work our butts of to increase productivity where it makes not a scap of difference to our own lives jussssst does not quite scratch where I am itching.

I suppose the smart socialist would find ways of rewarding highly productive collectives, and if anyone knows if this happened in Russia under the collectivization program, please let me know.
cheers all