At some, up to 70 percent of members are employed on the outside. Many kibbutzim run guest houses swept clean by Slavic women and commercial swimming pools scrubbed by Asian houseboys. The Kibbutz has been reborn as Management. Hardly a week goes by without a new Israeli company offering its shares on an American stock exchange. Every major newspaper has a daily economics supplement, a financial newspaper is printed daily and the Jerusalem Post excerpts the Wall Street Journal.
Credit cards come in gold and platinum.
Everyone has had the experience of suddenly overhearing Hebrew while abroad. Nine times out of 10, the conversation revolves around the price of something. Only the dimensions have changed. An Israeli labor law professor teaching in the United States flattered an American student by inviting her out for coffee. Privatization is the name of the game.