The Israeli Government Proved Itself to be Superfluous
The local government of the city of Tzfat (Safed) and, to a far lesser extent, the national government collapsed during the war. The local government of the city of Tzfat was simply non-existent.
Here in Tzfat only 17 of the 350 workers in the Municipality remained in the city during the war.
Reserve soldiers had to be brought in to see to it that the special needs of the city were taken care of. That is to say, that the supposedly democratic local government of the city of Tzfat deserted us and we were run militarily for a month. The precedent is so potentially dangerous that I need not elaborate.
In their absence the Municipality proved that they are superfluous. We simply do not need them. They are not even parasites. They are superfluous. They have realized their worst nightmare as politicians. They are not only not wanted, they are needed, not in the least.
There are many citizen-run organizations that can easily be modified slightly in order to become the bodies that take care of all of the functions of this city.
Milgam, Inc., the company that provides our water in Tzfat, is not a municipal agency. They are a private company. Our gas is provided by private companies. Although the electric company is a government company; it could be modified to be a worker-run collective with concerted effort.
Instead of the charity organizations, of which we have a very respectable number here in Tzfat, being organized to pick up where the government leaves off and, in so doing, perpetuate, rather than alleviate, poverty; they can be modified to be the bodies that care for the various needs of the residents of Tzfat.
If the charity organizations became the organizations and agencies that provide necessaries to all, not merely giving hand-outs to the needy, we would be able to eradicate indigence, as befits Jews. We would all have our needs provided for truly. Imagine no one having to beg for their subsistence. Imagine no one being punished with poverty for the "crime" of being aged, handicapped, widowed, orphaned or unemployable for whatever the reason. We can do better vastly better for ourselves and one another than can the government National Insurance Agency!
Instead of turning to the city for every need and want big and small be must learn to rely upon ourselves and upon one another. The concept is called Mutual Aid. We trade that which we can provide for that which we need. We become as maximally self-reliant as possible and create a culture of cooperative sharing.
There is nothing that the Municipality is doing for us that we cannot do far more efficiently, promptly, cost-effectively, fairly, caringly and honestly ourselves – and in a far more personalized manner, providing the services such that they fit individual needs and not strapping every citizen to a procrustean bed.
It is high time that the Israeli public was weaned from the co-dependent addiction and sickness of turning to the government only to get nothing but a kick in the teeth and then turning to the government again for comfort because they have been kicked in the teeth....
Since the Municipality of Tzfat was the first in the country to collapse utterly, it devolves upon Tzfat to become the premier model city for self-government on the part of the residents.
We can supplant the Municipality and take over every one of their functions. All we have to do is believe in ourselves and in one another and organize.
Let's send the workers of the Municipality of the City of Tzfat on a permanent vacation to Eilat!
Both the Hebrew and the English versions of this essay can be found on the following site:
http://www.geocities.com/dordot2001/MysticalAnarchyII.html
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat, Israel
DoreenDotan@gmail.com
