The Kibbutz Of The Eightneenth Century
The Kibbutz Of The Eightneenth Century
Long before the state of Israel was established in 1948, the pioneers beginning to settle in Israel at the turn of the century envisioned and eventually put into action their idea of a “perfect” society. Living by their motto “Work and Believe”, these immigrants established settlements, known as a kibbutz, where everyone, men and women, young and old, were given specific responsibilities to help the community function as a whole. All individuals living on the kibbutz were seen as equal and each do their job, and in a sense live their lives, to benefit their society. This ideal society, where social roles are innate and living for the community are the very essence of their survival, is depicted, in Swifts imaginative construct of the Houyhnhnms society in Gulliver’s Travels and throughout Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, particularly in The Chimney-sweeper (Innocence) and London (Experience).
The Houyhnhnms society, as seen through the eyes of Gulliver, was pragmatically simple. Their principle virtues were based on friendship and benevolence. They are concerned more with the community than with their own personal advantages, even choosing their mates to promote the race as a whole. The Houyhnhnms believed in breeding industriousness, cleanliness, and civility in their young and exercise them for speed and strength. Gulliver reaches a stage in his stay with the Houyhnhnms were he no longer cares about mankind as an individual. He becomes consumed with the simplicity of the Houyhnhnms belief system and admires their style of living, to the point where he doesn’t want to return to his own homeland. Gulliver is forced to eventually leave the Houyhnhnms, however finds it very difficult to leave their society. Leaving aside their class system, amongst themselves and between the Yahoos, the satire portrayed in the Houyhnhnms culture resembles those ideas, which became the foundation for life on the kibbutz. Each individual, both on the kibbutz and among the Houyhnhnms, recognizes their place in the bigger picture. The Houyhnhnms would gather every four years to discuss what could be done to better their community. Similarly, when settlers on the kibbutz would meet their goals were more focused on improving their community life rather than their own individual lives. The love and sense of community imposed on the individual from birth, on the kibbutz and among the...