Kibbutz

hmmmm no won is here

Interesting to find this on the front page.

I lived on a kibbutz for nearly three years, and left a few years ago. Like most insular communities, there's a lot to like when looking at it from the outside. People live in comfortable homes and have plenty to eat, with plenty of modern accoutrements like Internet access and the like. The community is quiet, with houses linked by footpaths instead of roads. The sense of community is strong.

The flip side is that internal community politics was horrible. People fought over the width of door frames in newly renovated housing because otherwise their houses weren't equal. People who turned their external salaries over to the kibbutz were often exploited, earning salaries that were a fraction of market rate, because they wouldn't see any of the extra. There were mentally ill people in positions of power who could not be removed because it was "their" position and their membership could not be revoked.

It's easy to look at kibbutzim and think that the grass is greener on the other side. But it comes at a deep price to your soul.

Oooof, that is a pretty one sided wikipedia page there.

Yep. There’s a reason they have not become the dominant mode for living. Moshavim were already an exit strategy for many. I’ve seen similar internal conflicts and power issues in anarchist communities and worker co-ops in Europe too.

Still, I do appreciate that in the early days kibbutzim were a pragmatic and necessary strategy for group cohesion and cooperation under stressful conditions.

I have no idea why this is posted on HN.

There was an another story here a few days ago about some economics professor turned hardcore free-market objectivist, becase he lived in a kibbutz in his youth.

Look, it isn't for everyone, but why not let people live how they want. Some prefer giving up some personal liberty for the collective communal experience.