Page 5 - C.A.L.L. #42 - Spring 2017

The movement gets its money from a combination of government funding for its educational activities
and from a wealth of programs and projects that bring in revenue. Some of the movement’s activities do
not bring in revenue, but we do not want the value of different projects or the people doing them to be
determined by how much money they bring in. So while certain projects involve technically paid
positions, nobody receives an individual pay-check. Instead, the salaries for those positions are pooled
into the centralized economy. This way, people can make decisions about what work to do based on
their own skills, passions, challenges they want to take on, the needs of the movement, and the needs of
Israeli society, rather than in response to financial pressure. This system is also the reason that it is
possible for our group to currently have three out of five members in ulpan (Hebrew language-learning
course for new immigrants) rather than in working full-time on a project or a paid job.

In this and many other ways, the movement economy liberates us from the pressure, competition, and
isolation of individual capitalist living. But as much as we are committed to a values-based economy, we
are equally committed to shaping and being full members of Israeli society – which means participating
in capitalism. If we wanted to live a completely pure socialist lifestyle, never touching money and living
only off of the products off our own labor, we could do that. We would have to create an autonomous
commune in the woods somewhere, but we could do it. But our secluded utopia wouldn’t do anything
to make Israel a more just society or to take responsibility for the Jewish people. Instead, we choose to
live in the tension of trying to fulfill our values
while being part of a deeply flawed society
that we deeply care about.

So we buy goods made by people we don’t
know or see, support institutions we dislike,
and face the pressures of modern capitalism.
And even though we believe firmly in our
socialist lifestyle, we have also grown up and
been socialized in capitalist society. We can’t
just turn off our desire to buy nice things or
the sense that having money that no one else
can touch gives us security. Every day we
grapple with these tensions. It can be
exhausting to be financially accountable to
and responsible for other people when we
grew up being told that money is a private, Edelman (third from the right) with other members of
personal matter. We’ve had to have really hard Kvutzat Silan.
conversations about what kind of financial
backgrounds we each come from and how we’re used to spending money. We have to really ask
ourselves what the difference is between our needs and wants and how to meet both individual and
collective needs.

We have the security of knowing that our needs will be met and the freedom to do fulfilling work without
worrying about needing to make money. But it also sometimes feels restricting. I can’t spend as much
money as I’m used to. It’s awkward to go out with a friend to a nice restaurant that a year ago I would’ve
enjoyed without a second thought, but now feels too extravagant for my socialist lifestyle. I have to ask
other people if it’s ok for me to get a new pair of shoes. We’re not ascetics, we sometimes go out to
movies or restaurants, but we do seek to limit the role of consumerism in our lives. It is a constant
challenge that demands us to be honest and vulnerable with each other in ways we’ve been taught to
avoid. But it is an essential part of our choice to live a holistic, shared life. And for those of you keeping
score at home, the movement pays my rent, I don’t receive a salary, and I am allowed to buy a cup of
coffee.

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