I think Todd actually called themselves "a bunch of idiots" in this last episode.
I'm more convinced than ever that this show is 90% show and 10% guys hunting for gold. But the 10% is juuuuust enough to keep me watching because of being recorded...I can fast forward through all the whining, but man it sure makes for a short show that way!
As it approaches the season finale, here is my summary of what went wrong with the expedition featured on the show Gold Rush, or as I like to call it, "Fool's Gold":
1. Poor leadership. If one flaw underscores everything, it is this one. Success or failure of any expedition comes down to its leaders.
2. Near total lack of preparation, particularly research. I've learned more reading one book on Gold Mining than all these guys knew together heading up there. Gold Mining in the 21st Century, but Dave McCracken (no affiliation). Not to mention the online resources like metal detecting and mining forums. And oversights like not bringing metal detectors? By very definition they were there to detect metal! And how did they not bring ONE blue bowl?
3. Overemphasis on personal comfort. One gets the idea this was a vacation.
4. Working harder, not smarter. In general the two need to be happily connected, but for the most part it seems lots of hard work was used to replace a lack of planning and smarts. And they did it repeatedly, until finally calling in an expert in something, or having one thrust on them. Which is fine if you don't have any brains, but most of these guys did. And to bill their efforts as somehow representing Americans is almost embarrassing. Sure, there are millions who work hard and would do just what they did. But I'd like to think there are some of us who learned the lessons from the gold rushes because we studied history. MOST MINERS WENT BROKE due to lack of planning...it happened by the thousands in California and Alaska. They spent their life savings just getting to the gold "fields" and had no idea what to do then...thought they just be picking up the gold off the ground. They weren't prepared to mine, for the weather, etc.
Just imagine if they had gone into this we solid leadership, prepared with the correct gear and information, sacrificed some comforts, and had put brains slightly in front of brawn. On second thought, maybe the title "Rushing to Gold" might be even better than "Fool's Gold".
they were'nt happy. Todd had more money invested in buckets than gold
