Does the season pass system do a disservice to the gaming industry?

No.

I’m not sure why you think that you have to buy both the game and the Season Pass for it right away. You say you usually get the dlc later on and that’s all a Season Pass is, is dlc bundled together to be released periodically over time. Get the base game and when all the dlc has been released for that Season Pass take a look at it and see if you want to get it then or wait for it to go on sale.

Would worry more about these early editions that let people play the exact same game a week or two sooner than everyone else who still paid the full price on pre-order. These early editions are almost the price of two new release games! It's scummy. That's the real cheap cash grabs, because they actually add nothing of value, they're just telling people with more money than brains to pay up extra as they delay the game for everyone else, it's the same as telling us full price just isn't good enough.

Charging people for content added later-on is at least sensible, games cost money to make (a lot), and expecting free stuff all the time is the mentality of children. Most these games will never sell over 2 million units. And that will barely be profitable for continuation. Season passes are bundles for future content (technically cheaper), sometimes help give games longevity. If you don't want it? at least you can be happy with what the base game provides.