50 years on, Bernie Sanders still champions values of his Israeli kibbutz

[Mosby]

SHAAR HAAMAKIM, Israel (JTA) — Every morning, Bernie Sanders would wake up at 4:10 a.m. to pick apples and pears.

Leaving the cabin he shared with a few other American college student volunteers, Sanders would have a quick bite of bread before heading out to the orchard. After 2 1/2 hours of work, he and the other 20 or so volunteers would sit down for a traditional 30-minute Israeli breakfast of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, butter and hard-boiled eggs.

Then it was back to work. Probably.

It’s hard to know his routine for sure, but that spartan schedule was standard fare for American and French volunteers at Shaar Haamakim, the Israeli kibbutz where the U.S. Democratic presidential candidate apparently spent several months in 1963. The name of his kibbutz had remained a mystery until last week, when Haaretz unearthed a 1990 interview with Sanders identifying the agricultural commune.

No one currently at Shaar Haamakim remembers Sanders, who has preached his doctrine of democratic socialism on the campaign trail. No records with his name survive.

But Albert Ely, 79, who managed the kibbutz volunteer program in the early 1960s, remembered someone named Bernard. And he said that if Sanders was there, he was probably picking fruit before the sun rose.

“I was astonished that the name Bernard, which is French, belonged to an American,” Ely told JTA, sitting in his home here. “I remember a lot of volunteers. I don’t remember him. If he was here, he was with the Americans.”

http://www.jta.org/2016/02/08/news-opinion/politics/50-years-on-bernie-sanders-still-champions-values-of-his-israeli-kibbutz

[FarPoint]

1. So, I just can't understand why it took him 50 years....to become a Democrat.

Why did he hold pout so long? He supported Democratic philosophy and projects, why the lack of commitment? Your OP example demonstrates his Democratic philosophy....I commend him for his endeavors.

[valerief]

2. He was too busy being democratic and uniting people from both parties

to play Either-Or-Ocracy.

[Mufaddal]

3. Because he sees the same corruption infecting both parties

And has a problem with the two party monopoly. But he also understands that to have a shot at making change on a presidential level, he needs to throw in with one.