Lack of Fact
No posts the past few days as I spent some time south of Cancun, Mexico, in Playa del Carmen… a stretch of coastland now promoted as the Mayan Riviera. Wonderful beach, lots of sun, great service. All in all, a nice vacation destination.
While there, I had the opportunity to talk to others… mostly tourists from the U.S. but many from other countries. I was struck by a couple of things.
Both during direct discussions as well as just overhearing others talk, many people commented on the disparity between the lifestyle of the locals and the relative luxury enjoyed by the tourists. Indeed, you can see people living in poor conditions, see workers walking to work or driving beat up cars or waiting for crowded buses… all intermingled with visitors enjoying a pampered vacation, spending money on trivial items, acting foolish (mostly alcohol-assisted), and the many comforts of very nice hotels and resorts. This juxtaposition seems to bother many people and I heard a number of comments about it… which made me think:
What is it about people that they cannot see things for what they really are and why are drawn to feeling guilty in situations where they have absolutely no blame? I heard things like “it’s sad so many locals have to wait on decadent tourists” and “it’s hard to enjoy yourself when you know so many people are suffering in the area” and “it’s wasteful to have two open seats on our nice air-conditioned tour bus and just pass workers walking along the side of the road” and other such nonsense. I’m serious.. this was not just a “one off” comment from a retired hippie… it was a theme I heard from many, and who came from all walks of life.
While they can feel as bad as they want, they just don’t see the big picture. Tourism is the second largest industry in Mexico and tourists provide a LOT of jobs… most of which are far easier and more rewarding than digging ditches or plowing fields! While it might be more efficient to fill every vacant seat of every bus but, if the tourist vans running to/from the airport also served extra duty picking up pedestrian workers, most tourists wouldn’t be as happy… and fewer would visit… and local jobs would decline.
It’s just another example of people expressing their opinions based solely on emotions… and not looking at the facts in a rational way. Sure, in a “perfect world” you could implement a “no empty seats” policy… and a few lucky people would benefit by having a ride for the day… but what might be the unintended consequences? Losing their job next year?
The other thing was a single discussion but accentuates the same point. You should note that the Maya Indians inhabited much of the Yucatan Peninsula and their influence, both historical and artistic, is still a part of the current culture. My wife was talking to a person, a seemingly intelligent lady also enjoying a nice vacation, who thought it was terrible that all the tourism from the United States has spoiled the Mayan heritage by commercializing it and lamented that the locals were not more like their Mayan ancestors.
First, she chose to blame her own country for this perceived misdeed… completely disregarding the fact that (1) many tourists are from other countries and (2) tourism was a primary economic goal set by the Mexican government itself.
Second, she seemed to believe the local people would be better off had they been left alone as a primitive Indian society rather than sullied by our modern society. She had some notion, probably based only on the romantic tourist representation of the Maya influence that is described in many ways throughout the area, that the life of an ancient native Maya Indian (rather than as a modern Mexican citizen) would have been far more idyllic. She found it hard to believe that the historical Mayans suffered greatly from starvation, war among the many tribes, and practiced human sacrifice.
I think it telling that people will form opinions with little or no input of facts, relying solely on emotion. While your “gut” might tell you a lot of things and, indeed, instinct can guide you in one direction or another.. but rarely will emotion overcome hard, solid facts. That is to say, you can FEEL something is the right solution but if it doesn’t align with the facts, it has little chance of success.
