I didn't watch this video, but I'm familiar with McCandless's story.

McCandless was the child of a control-freak alcoholic. Look into the accounts of his sister (still living, I believe). Many people are "inspired" by his story because there are countless numbers of very unhappy people in the world. When I was younger (and deeply unhappy), I too saw inspiration in his story. It's an expression of an honest rejection of our world. At least McCandless was consistent with the absolute nature of his rejection of our society.

I have since found happiness and meaning in life, and as such, I'm sorry McCandless didn't live long enough to discover more deeply the roots of his pain. He was a bright kid, but he got lost in that pain. This is a very common trait within addictive systems.

So rather than thinking of them as "idiots" (being at one time just such an idiot myself), I think of them as deeply unhappy souls. In truth, we are all idiots more than 90% of the time. I know I am still regularly, daily (every day) an idiot. Finding that 10% of beauty we have within us, though, can make all the difference in whether we think there is any hope at all with continuing this weird journey each of us passes through during our brief existence on this plane.