This has nothing to do with wether or not Your liberal. The fact was, hes was unprepared, and could have had many more things with him with driving in thouse parts. Also I dont think its fair to say if he had only spend 500 dollars, mabye he was short that month, who knows. But the fact stands he could have been more prepared. And done something diffrently when he came to that part of the road.
It might have been peer pressure that kept him from being prepared.
I recently went on a two-day trip to Arizona (from where I live in California). Being the cautious kind of a guy that I am, I insisted on bringing most of my camping gear, as well as blankets and emergency supplies that could have gotten us through three or four days in the car if need be. My wife kept telling me that "We aren't going camping you know," and "Why in the world are you bringing all that JUNK."
Did we need it? No. But I'd rather have it and not need it....
Once we got to Arizona, I talked my brother in law into taking me four wheeling into the desert. For my part, I planned on bringing a bottle of water, warm clothes and rain gear in a backpack (there was a storm blowing in and it was obviously going to rain). I had my usual PSK with me and assortment of knives too, of course, because I don't like to leave the pavement without them. I wasn't going to bring the rest of my wilderness gear because I assumed my brother in law would have anything we might need in the jeep. He's only been venturing into the desert like this for 30 years....
Well, he shows up and he had absolutely nothing in the jeep. No emergency supplies, no first aid kit, no hilift jack, no tools, no way to make a shelter. He didn't even have a folding knife (he borrowed mine while on the trip). He did have a coat with him (cotton, of course). A bottle of Mountain Dew was the extent of his emergency rations.
I took one look and started throwing the rest of my gear into the jeep, including a 2.5 gallon jug of water, some food, cook gear, etc.
To which he complained, "We aren't going for a month, you know. You've been hanging around with my sister for way too long. She always overpacks too."
Did we need any of that stuff? Nope! But I'm convinced that had I not brought it along, we would have ended up with a flat tire or a busted fan belt that would have had me kicking myself for succumbing to the pressure to not look like a fool. I mean, it got seriously COLD that night, the wind was blowing hard, and it rained to beat the band. I can't imagine what it would have been like if we'd gotten stuck 10 miles back on a 4 wheel drive road with the washes filling up and the road turning to mud.
Over confidence can get you killed. I just hope my brother in law never has to learn that lesson the hard way.
The point to this little tale is not only is it hard to convince yourself that you need to be prepared for bad things, but you'll also encounter many people who will actively deride you for taking preventative action. You've got to be stubborn if you're going to be "survival minded." For all we know, James Kim thought about bringing some extra stuff with him, but the wife (or someone) convinced him that it wasn't necessary.
Hopefully one of these days the full tale of what happened to the Kims will be told. I, for one, view it as an opportunity to learn and then Not Do That.
