Kibbutz Quotes

“In Israel, we spent time working on several kibbutzim. It was unique experience and a very different type of culture than I was used to. I enjoyed picking grapefruits, netting fish on the "fish farm", and doing other agricultural work. Mostly, however, it was the structure of the community that impressed me. People there were living their democratic values. The kibbutz was owned by the people who lived there, the "bosses" were elected by the workers, and overall decisions for the community were made democratically. I recall being impressed by how young-looking and alive the older people there were. Democracy, it seemed, was good for one's health.”
― Bernie Sanders, Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In

“The kibbutz experience suggests that income equality does not come for free. What you gain in a safety net, you lose in individual incentives; but if you raise incentives, inequality follows.”
― Ran Abramitzky, The Mystery of the Kibbutz: Egalitarian Principles in a Capitalist World

“Kibbutz members were required to give the collective all their private property, including clothing and other personal items. All decisions were made collectively, from small things like what the members should wear and when they could get new shoes, all the way to what food the members would eat in the dining hall, what tasks and jobs the members would perform, and whether and what the members could study outside the kibbutz. Even the showers were communal (separate for men and women).”
― Ran Abramitzky, The Mystery of the Kibbutz: Egalitarian Principles in a Capitalist World