Kibbutz Ideal Collapses as Israel shifts to Capitalism

The Washington Times reports:

The image of the bronzed and brawny kibbutz field worker was once the trademark of a young Israel, but the iconic agricultural communes are becoming a thing of the past.
In recent decades, kibbutzniks have grappled with crippling bank debt, membership attrition and the waning of the collectivist ethic on which the country was founded.
Now, in belated recognition of the demise of their utopian ethic and Israel's shift to capitalism from socialism, a majority of kibbutzes are scrapping their egalitarian salary schemes and allowing members to live each according to their own earning power.
At the head office of Kibbutz Ga'ash, stacks of paper bearing a proposal to privatize work compensation sit on the desk of Kibbutz Chairman Hanan Rogalin. The plan will come up for a vote this month, and the chairman said the survival of the 56-year-old seaside kibbutz is at stake.
"The contemporary kibbutz doesn't provide answers for life needs, and most important in my eyes, people's aspirations," said Mr. Rogalin. "The kibbutz creates too much friction. The secretariat dictates too many things to members. And people want more freedom to take responsibility for their lives."

You might say socialism is a pagan religion.