Sugar Hill Kevis
20th February 2007, 19:30
Israel's oldest kibbutz votes for privatisation
· Decision transforms community lifestyle
· Members to get private salaries for first time
The vote at Degania kibbutz, where the Sea of Galilee meets the river Jordan, was carried with 85% in favour
Nearly a century after it was founded, Israel's first and most famous kibbutz has voted to give up its early socialist ideals and to privatise itself.
The changes at Degania, which was founded where the Sea of Galilee meets the river Jordan, were agreed by a vote and come after a one-year trial in which residents for the first time received private salaries.
In the past the 320 members of the kibbutz saw their salaries paid into a communal account and then received free services and an allowance based on need, usually determined by the size of their families. In future they will be paid varied salaries based on ability not need and, most importantly, they will be allowed to keep them. In return they will have to pay for services such as electricity and water and they will have to pay a progressive income tax into the kibbutz which will be used to support the least well off.
continued (http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2017038,00.html)
more info on the Kibbutz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz)
· Decision transforms community lifestyle
· Members to get private salaries for first time
The vote at Degania kibbutz, where the Sea of Galilee meets the river Jordan, was carried with 85% in favour
Nearly a century after it was founded, Israel's first and most famous kibbutz has voted to give up its early socialist ideals and to privatise itself.
The changes at Degania, which was founded where the Sea of Galilee meets the river Jordan, were agreed by a vote and come after a one-year trial in which residents for the first time received private salaries.
In the past the 320 members of the kibbutz saw their salaries paid into a communal account and then received free services and an allowance based on need, usually determined by the size of their families. In future they will be paid varied salaries based on ability not need and, most importantly, they will be allowed to keep them. In return they will have to pay for services such as electricity and water and they will have to pay a progressive income tax into the kibbutz which will be used to support the least well off.
continued (http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2017038,00.html)
more info on the Kibbutz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz)