How you get a vacation in a capitalist country: you earn enough money and buy it. How you get a vacation in the USSR: most people just don't earn enough money t

How you get a vacation in a capitalist country: you earn enough money and buy it. How you get a vacation in the USSR: most people just don't earn enough money to buy it on the "open market", so instead you apply for one. And the supply is very limited. So you need to know someone, pull some strings, provide something in return to the people who make decisions and maybe you get a subsidized tour. The people making these decisions have an additional income (not always monetary) through the power they yield.