Plan for the worst is taking precautions to prepare oneself for the worst possible outcome. Hope for the best is hoping it doesn’t come true.
That's the point. They have no "precautions to prepare oneself for the worst possible outcome" that go beyond "hoping it doesn’t come true".
That is the problem. They are acting as if they can just keep poking the bear with a sharp stick and keep hoping it doesn't just walk out of it's pen through the unlocked gate and rip their heads off. And, even knowing that, they just keep right on poking him anyway. It's insane.
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