January 19, 2004
Omnipotent Tourist Syndrome
What is O.T.S.?
The Omnipotent Tourist Syndrome™ is a disease common among Americans that is caused by arrogance, egotism and non-chalance. Carriers show a penchant for obliviously overlooking the obvious while delighting themselves at the cost of others. Delerious OTS sufferers refuse to acknowledge their malady and will argue that it is their God given right as an American to travel freely about the world with little or no conscience or consequence. OTS people fequently hide behind their Bill of Rights and Constitution. Unfortunately, there is no cure for OTS nor is there any way to ease it's symptoms. It is a disease which, no matter how much hard data and facts are introduced into the OTS sufferer, will not ease unless said sufferer finds a compass of morality and humanity.
Here is perhaps the textbook case of OTS:
The above link shows a true OTS patient who willingly and willfully for his own pleasure travels to Cuba and has a delightful time with the nuances and quaintness of the island. Meanwhile, the natives of the island starve, lack basic human rights and are nothing but oppressed by their own Government, the same one that receives monetary compensation in the form of travel dollars from the OTS afflicted.
OTS is a derivation of The World Revolves Around Me Syndrome (WRAMS)
UPDATE: One Fine Jay is familiar with OTS carriers.
Posted by Val Prieto at January 19, 2004 12:04 PM
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» Rose-colored glasses from One Fine Jay
Val Prieto links to an article on just how rosy some people see Cuba, and proceeds to opine:
The Omnipotent Tourist Syndrome™ is a disease common among Americans that is caused by arrogance, egotism and non-chalance. Carriers show a penchant f... [Read More]
Tracked on January 19, 2004 03:10 PM
» Omnipotent Tourist Syndrome from Ed Driscoll.com
Glenn Reynolds links to a great post by Matt Welch on the blindness of tourists to death, decay and starvation in Cuba:this common sentiment has always irritated the hell out of me. Oh, the crumbling, no-longer-beautiful houses! Ah, the lovely... [Read More]
Tracked on June 8, 2005 08:09 PM
» What's wrong with OUR unruined ruins? from Classical Values
I've been reading about all these Americans (mostly suffering from an unmedicated condition called "Omnipotent Tourist Syndrome (aka "OTS") who go to other countries and marvel over stuff like crumbling buildings. (Via InstaPundit.) I'm a morbid person... [Read More]
Tracked on June 9, 2005 05:16 PM
» Omnipotent Tourist Syndrome from Ed Driscoll.com
Glenn Reynolds links to a great post by Matt Welch on the blindness of tourists to death, decay and starvation in Cuba:this common sentiment has always irritated the hell out of me. Oh, the crumbling, no-longer-beautiful houses! Ah, the lovely... [Read More]
Tracked on July 31, 2005 03:37 AM
Comments
This post is just another fine example of why I enjoy reading Babalublog.
Posted by: J.Scott Barnard at January 19, 2004 12:39 PM
That makes me an Omnipotent Cigar Smoker.
Posted by: Steve H. at January 19, 2004 03:20 PM
Sounds a lot like a woman I work with.
Posted by: Da Goddess at January 20, 2004 12:09 PM
Firstly, thanks for the great blog, this is a much needed piece on the internet... blogs are generally too iraq centric these days...
just wanted to point out something though about tourism, while it's definetly tourism that allows the cuban economy afloat (well sorta..) i don't think stopping the influx of tourism to cuba would benefit its people.
sure i agree with you, travel dollars compensates the castrist regim, and little if anything ends in the pocket of the man on the street, but do you really think things would be better for cubans if this money went elsewhere, i don't think so... and i surely wouldn't want to see Cuba become North Korea.
Posted by: erwan at January 21, 2004 10:47 AM
erwan,
Thanks for the kudos. Im glad you like the site and hope you keep coming by.
About tourism in Cuba. I dont know if you are familiar with this but, do you know that the average cuban is not allowed in a tourist area, like hotels, restaurants, beaches and stores? Tourists in Cuba have any ammenity imaginable. They have any food they want, they have access to the best healthcare money can buy. They have access to the internet and telecommunications. They are treated like royalty there.
Now, every tourist pays for everything in dollars. The businesses receiving these dollars pay the Castro regime for the labor and land, etc... The regime in turn, pockets most of the money and pays the cuban worker a meager salary in Cuban pesos. (the average doctor makes like 20 US a month)
What im saying in this post is this: How can anyone, be they American, Canadian, european, whatever, in good conscience promote such a system by traveling to Cuba? Is lying on the beach sipping Daquiri's for a week or two worth the dignity of another human being?
Posted by: Val Prieto at January 21, 2004 11:31 AM
