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    TheDrDonna, Paid Shillary Killinton SupporterEllie Shechet
    6/28/16 6:09pm

    I’ve maintained this since reading the book in high school: Christopher McCandless was a stupid, naive, unprepared dink who thought he could piss in Nature’s face and get away with it. He got lucky a few times, but sooner or later if you don't respect Nature it will kill you dead.

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      provonTheDrDonna, Paid Shillary Killinton Supporter
      6/28/16 6:11pm

      I CONCUR!

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      deerlady83TheDrDonna, Paid Shillary Killinton Supporter
      6/28/16 6:11pm

      That is what happened.

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    Marzipan in your Pie PlateEllie Shechet
    6/28/16 6:08pm

    Maybe they should get rid of the bus. It’s not, like, a national monument or anything. I realize that may be difficult with the lack of roads in Alaska. Maybe just dismantle it or something.

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      TheBurnersMyDestinationMarzipan in your Pie Plate
      6/28/16 6:13pm

      Blow it in place. It really wouldn't take much more dynamite than a couple of rangers could bring over. Heck, wait and do it the next time you have to go rescue some idiot, just to save you the extra trip.

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      oldenough2byourmamaMarzipan in your Pie Plate
      6/28/16 6:17pm

      BURN IT TO THE GROUND.

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    deerlady83Ellie Shechet
    6/28/16 6:10pm

    There is a reason the Into the Wild guy died. He wasn't smart about going into the wildness and it got him. People shouldn't be following his example.

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      That's Not That Much Cheesedeerlady83
      6/28/16 6:15pm

      I tried to explain this to my sister when she spent 30 minutes telling me how profound this book was and how it changed her life and she could totally do what he did and just leave everything behind to go into the wild. Pretty sure she didn’t finish the book before saying all that. Also, she is the person who made us late for several hikes on vacation because she can’t be seen in public with her eyebrows on, so, you know, yea sure.

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      King_jaffe_jofferdeerlady83
      6/28/16 6:17pm

      Counter point : we need to stop rescuing those people.

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    MuffMuffEllie Shechet
    6/28/16 6:08pm

    How anyone could watch that movie and not think that McCandless was a giant dumbass is beyond me. Why do people idolize a spoiled brat that killed himself from a mix of ego and incompetence?

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      TheBurnersMyDestinationMuffMuff
      6/28/16 6:21pm

      How stupid do you have to be to go into the woods without a map and a compass? Fuck, I don't even go on a hike without a compass and a rough azimuth, and that's when I'm not even planning on leaving the trail.

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      GriefBaconsMuffMuff
      6/28/16 6:32pm

      He poisoned himself because he ate a plant that paralyzed him...that no one knew was toxic until like 3 years ago.

      That’s neither ego, nor incompetence.

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    anniegawker2-electricboogalooEllie Shechet
    6/28/16 6:12pm

    “What was the name of that movie I hated about the total idiot?”

    -My mom asking about Into the Wild

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      MsMymlananniegawker2-electricboogaloo
      6/28/16 6:22pm

      Do all moms go through a special training for phrasing questions as vague as possible?

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      Sparky Polastryanniegawker2-electricboogaloo
      6/28/16 6:22pm

      This made me smile.

      Also, love the username

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    SehanperdidoEllie Shechet
    6/28/16 6:06pm

    Quick question regarding the title. I keep getting all fucked up about the use of terms like “females” and “males” when referring to men and women. Is it cool again, or is it not cool to use “females” while “males” is ok? What’s the current practice?

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      The Noble RenardSehanperdido
      6/28/16 6:09pm

      It’s a definite shift in the vernacular and I hate it so much.

      FWIW I think male and female should never be used in the noun form for women and men.

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      MadmanacrossthewaterSehanperdido
      6/28/16 6:21pm

      It’s the kind of usage that makes any reasonably well educated person cringe inside. And I’ve never encountered a male who referred to women as “females” who wasn’t an idiot misogynist.

      On the other hand, language is always in flux, as are the rules, so it’s up to you.

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    MarieFuryEllie Shechet
    6/28/16 6:12pm

    for fuck’s sake, did this many people really miss the entire point of the story: rich kid didn’t know what the hell he was doing. Yes, he had a good heart and it was all very hollywood-romantic and made for an awesome adventure story, but, really, the point was pretty obvious (or so I thought)!

    Also: This is purely observational, but all of the people I know who are obsessed with Into the Wild are upper-middle-class white people. The same people who have the money for “adventure sports” (with allllll the fancy backpacks, and gear, and shit).

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      PersnicketyPantsMarieFury
      6/28/16 7:12pm

      Basically people who’ve never had to struggle for a thing, Romanizing struggle.

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      simpsonMarieFury
      6/28/16 9:08pm

      Did you fucking read the book? You don’t know shit about McCandless, Krakauer, or middle class white people. By the way, there are motherfuckers on this thread who agree with you about McCandless who shop at REI...nothing screams white privilege like an REI shopper...and that’s who your bedfellows are in this argument. So nice job fucking up your own point.

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    Angelica SchuylerEllie Shechet
    6/28/16 6:08pm

    brilliant idea. should i track down the titanic iceberg or anna karenina train first?

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      rslwnAngelica Schuyler
      6/28/16 6:15pm

      I was thinking I’d go find the boulder that took that guy’s arm, see if I could get it back.

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      Okscram3Angelica Schuyler
      6/28/16 6:53pm

      This is an untapped tourist market! You could always lock yourself in Mr. Rochester’s attic, go hang out on Crusoe island for a few year tending your bean rows, join a whaling expedition...

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    JujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes hereEllie Shechet
    6/28/16 6:10pm

    If this happens all the time, the paper should consider changing its name to ‘The Alaska Dipshit’.

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      seeemmteeJujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes here
      6/28/16 6:15pm

      . . . But it’s not Alaskans who do this. It’s tourists.

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      JujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes hereseeemmtee
      6/28/16 6:24pm

      Allow me leeway on the joke, please.

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    HollyVarjakEllie Shechet
    6/28/16 6:08pm

    We are so sick of these dumb people. Also the tourists who get off the cruise ship and decide it’s fine to just walk up the side of a glacier with no gear. This is not a theme park, you will not be fine.

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      TheBurnersMyDestinationHollyVarjak
      6/28/16 6:16pm

      Well if they don’t want tourists to climb it then they shouldn’t have put it there! /s

      Seriously, though. I used to do backwoods canoe trips (like, gone in the woods for weeks) and even though we never ran into someone in life or death trouble, we did run into far too many people who were clearly in way over their heads. And because we are nice we helped them out, and they became a liability to our group. Be smart, people.

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      CannedPamHollyVarjak
      6/28/16 7:22pm

      Seriously. I worked at a tech company with many recent new hires from India. One of them had the genius idea to take a group of them up to the Boundary Waters for a canoe/camping trip. I said “oh that’s cool, have you ever been camping before?” Nope, they had never been. “Is there some kind of Girl Scout/Boy Scout equivalent in India that you took part in?” Nope. They had no idea how to paddle a canoe or put up a tent. Yet they somehow thought it was a good idea to take a camping trip that even I who was a Girl Scout for 10 years and grew up camping on the Apostle Islands and spent every weekend in the summer at a cabin in the woods would think was pretty challenging. I said “you might want to take a test run at a nearby campground first.”

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