It's not you, it's the system
PalmaGood morning, tourist. I am writing these lines so that you better understand the situation. Because most likely, while you were looking for where you could go on vacation this summer, no one has told you that we are part of a perverse system, that we are a cog in a machine designed to make you work eleven months a year so that you then return this money and buy all kinds of products, including territories that are far from your home.
Let me first say that I like to travel and that knowing other landscapes, cultures, and different ways of interpreting the world makes us better people. I am also aware that you make a great effort so that your family can enjoy a few days away from home. You may have had to take out a loan so that your children can go to the beach and enjoy the benefits of the sun. They will even increase their vitamin D levels these days, in addition to the benefits of leaving screens and swimming and laughing while eating an ice cream.
The crux of the matter is that the system is not designed to know landscapes, cultures, or different ways of interpreting the world. It is not interested in your personal enrichment or that you return home with your mind a little more open.
The system wants you to consume as much as possible in as little time as possible. That is why we periodically assess how much you spend when you visit us. I warn you: if you spend little, we will say that you are a low-quality visitor. But this is nothing new, because the poor are usually categorized in this way, at least.
What you don't know is that you also consume water, energy, and territory. And you also destroy. First of all, you destroy the right to housing for many people. The system needs houses so that you can pay for two weeks of rent. It is much more comfortable than having to all be in a hotel room, right? Besides, you don't have to follow schedules for meals and you can cook whatever you feel like. Meanwhile, our landscape fills up with caravans, shacks, and tents where the remains of what was once called the residential rental market are placed. I know: you are not a bad person, you just want to have a few happy days. But you have become a tool for the system to perpetuate itself and inflate. It wants everything for itself. The problem is that it has inflated so much that it is about to burst. And we are afraid.