Mr. Beast has to be one of if not the most charitable YouTubers. He’s an effective altruist fever dream, curing disease and easing poverty through free entertainment. There are many worded YouTubers for the world. Perhaps it’s just his ostentatiousness that rubs people the wrong way. Do we want our saints to keep things low key?
MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
121–130 of 565 posts
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#122It's not altruism if it's your source of income. Sorry but I don't buy this bs. He's doing it to generate income, that's all. Altruism is "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others" but we have quite the opposite here - a selfish way of milking poor people for emotions in order to generate income. Real altruism is hard and done only by a few. Literally EVERY man/woman/child on this planet will say yes…
Despite what you've been taught, every act of charity comes from a selfish need (ego). Whether that is predatory or not from the standpoint of the donor, I'll leave that up to you to decide. And to be clear, his acts of charity have made an impact in the people who have benefited from it. Whether the public response is positive or negative is besides the point.
I would quibble on relating the idea of selfish donation in the personal satisfaction sense, with the monetary and brand reward sense.
Two different concepts that should be looked at separately.
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#123I find it interesting that people are upset that this, for lack of a better term, philanthropy achieved by MrBeast, while yes, its for the likes, the YouTube popularity, its a cottage industry of "feel good" that he's producing, is somehow bad? I wonder how sustainable this will be ultimately, but it seems like he's able to just give all this stuff away and help people, and yes, they have to agree to be being filmed…
> I find it interesting that people are upset that this, for lack of a better term, philanthropy achieved by MrBeast, while yes, its for the likes, the YouTube popularity, its a cottage industry of "feel good" that he's producing, is somehow bad? It depends on how it's done. It's one thing to be broadcasting what is essentially, poverty porn, where you, the hero of the world, come in to paradrop money on the problem.…
How would he be able to do any charity if not for YouTube and broadcasting it?
He’s effectively transferring dollars from large advertisers to poor Americans. Very unlikely he would be doing this at all if not for YouTube.
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#124My kids love Mr Beast. I'm uncomfortable with it and can't put my finger on it. It feels like he makes life look like you stand a good chance of having someone walk in and give you $100,000. Maybe there is no harm in thinking that? But it feels like the same thing as buying a lottery ticket. I guess YouTube is free? But is the time spent on that channel worth it over doing other things? I admire the approach he takes…
It's no different than Olympic Athletes and other professional stars telling kids to work hard in school and one day they too can compete in the olympics/be a professional athlete, with no mention to the tens of thousands of hours of training, long hours, strict diet, and frankly unhealthy levels of obsession typically required to propel someone to that level. As a kid I admired a lot of people/shows that I later wis…
It’s probably actually beneficial to believe some difficult task is reasonably obtainable. You’d try harder and be more motivated than if you believed it was virtually impossible.
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#125It's not altruism if it's your source of income. Sorry but I don't buy this bs. He's doing it to generate income, that's all. Altruism is "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others" but we have quite the opposite here - a selfish way of milking poor people for emotions in order to generate income. Real altruism is hard and done only by a few. Literally EVERY man/woman/child on this planet will say yes…
Despite what you've been taught, every act of charity comes from a selfish need (ego). Whether that is predatory or not from the standpoint of the donor, I'll leave that up to you to decide. And to be clear, his acts of charity have made an impact in the people who have benefited from it. Whether the public response is positive or negative is besides the point.
>Despite what you've been taught, every act of charity comes from a selfish need (ego).
True. Which is why a lot of people recognize this and perform acts of charity anonymously.
I don't mean to say there is anything wrong with non-anonymous donations by the way.
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#126It's not altruism if it's your source of income. Sorry but I don't buy this bs. He's doing it to generate income, that's all. Altruism is "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others" but we have quite the opposite here - a selfish way of milking poor people for emotions in order to generate income. Real altruism is hard and done only by a few. Literally EVERY man/woman/child on this planet will say yes…
I mean I haven't seen his tax returns but from what he says, he spends 100%+ of revenue on the next video. I'm not sure if you are unaware of that claim or just don't believe it.
Sure he is extremely generous to his employees, but that would also fall under altruism...
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#127I enjoy watching Mr. Beast's videos, like millions of other people. His videos have a wonderful childlike playful energy, where contestants play schoolyardesque games for the chance of big rewards. The losers usually still walk away with thousands of dollars. He does massive amounts of philanthropy in addition to the mainstream content. Are there really any criticisms of Mr. Beast other than get-off-my-yard snobbery?
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Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#128Wait what? I thought Mr Beast was that guy from the Banksy documentary..
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#129It's not altruism if it's your source of income. Sorry but I don't buy this bs. He's doing it to generate income, that's all. Altruism is "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others" but we have quite the opposite here - a selfish way of milking poor people for emotions in order to generate income. Real altruism is hard and done only by a few. Literally EVERY man/woman/child on this planet will say yes…
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Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#130It's not altruism if it's your source of income. Sorry but I don't buy this bs. He's doing it to generate income, that's all. Altruism is "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others" but we have quite the opposite here - a selfish way of milking poor people for emotions in order to generate income. Real altruism is hard and done only by a few. Literally EVERY man/woman/child on this planet will say yes…
Despite what you've been taught, every act of charity comes from a selfish need (ego). Whether that is predatory or not from the standpoint of the donor, I'll leave that up to you to decide. And to be clear, his acts of charity have made an impact in the people who have benefited from it. Whether the public response is positive or negative is besides the point.
You’re not wrong, but there’s a big difference between donating money to feel good about yourself or even hope others like you more, and building a capital engine with a veneer of philanthropic paint.