| Danny Myers, aged 25, seeond year Eeonomies, Polities, and Sociology at Huil University, found |
| an advertisement for Kibbutz work in a Sunday paper. He went for ten weeks, and was paid f.5.50 |
| a month for six hours a day, six days a week. |
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| After one year of university considering the various possible structures of society , the first hand |
| experience of a different system became appealing. |
| Consequently, I applied for a placement as a Kibbutz volunteer. The reported socialist and |
| communal values would be interesting to experience, whilst the aspect of working in the fields in the |
| 5 | warm sun would make a pleasant change. |
| Now in retrospect (by the fire - I seem to be feeling the cold since my return) I sense: the burden |
| of life's daily decisions (the Kibbutz system requires only a passive role from its volunteers) ; a decline |
| in my physical well-being (the pen having replaced the saw) ; and a general confusion in deciding |
| whether the British pub is a better place to spend an evening than the social center of a Kibbutz. This |
| 10 | temporary mental imbalance is the outcome of the culture shock my summer travels provoked. |
| A Kibbutz is a very different society. All the means of production are owned in common by the |
| members, and the pro fits from the output are accordingly shared out equally amongst these members. |
| Any decisions concerning this production or consumption are made at a weekly general meeting |
| (or by elected sub-committees) at which all members have speaking and voting rights. Money is not |
| 15 | used for internal dealings since all goods are distributed according to need. Meals are taken together |
| in the community dining-hall, and entertainment is organized on a weekly basis, taking the form of |
| films , speakers, parties and other cultural events. |
| For volunteers there is the understanding that your stay will only be short-term (approximately |
| one to four months), in the first instance at any rate. Consequently commitment, involvement, and |
| 20 | understanding between Kibbutz members and volunteers is often limited. However, this does not |
| spoil the whole event, since most average size Kibbutzim have upwards of 75 volunteers (mainly from |
| Europe and America) during the fruit harvest of the summer months, as fruit picking is a labor intensive |
| activity. |
| Whilst being employed at picking the crop and helping in the back up services (e.g. kitchen, nursery |
| 25 | or laundry) there are a lot of different people, values, types of work, and places that one can |
| experience. I enjoyed this variety, the change from studying was total, the Kibbutz was fascinating, |
| and the sun glorious. |
| |
| The Guardian, December 29, 1978 |
