Saying it's altruism, philanthropy or charity is like saying your salary comes from altruism from your boss
MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
401–410 of 565 posts
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#402Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find this take on him so strange. I also don't understand the take that altruism/philanthropy has to be zero sum. i.e. true altruism means that I lose something and you gain something. Maybe it is a hold over from religion and the idea of sacrifice being the ultimate good. The times I have had the most impact (helping people in need, teaching, starting my own NPO) it has been very much positive sum. If he has zero…
> Can someone give me some examples of philanthropy that is NOT predatory/extractive? Richard Stallman and his work on free software? I think what OP is saying is that at Mr Beast's income level, he can effectively create a lasting change that most of us can't. Instead he focuses on people individually, giving them nice gestures but nothing life-changing, and he continues to do this because his viewers demand these t…
> Richard Stallman and his work on free software?
Quick nitpick: if you think RMS haven't milked the "free software" cow enough, you're probably delusional. Its basically his lifestyle.
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#403Earlier quoted context omitted.
Now imagine a government that helps people with no strings attached, without making them feel like shit about needing help, and no cameras pointed at their face either. Who says it can’t be done?
> Now imagine a government that helps people with no strings attached, without making them feel like shit about needing help, and no cameras pointed at their face either. Who says it can’t be done? All of history so far.
I think in most places in the world you can get cataract surgery for free no strings attached
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#404My 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…
> My kids love Mr Beast. I'm uncomfortable with it and can't put my finger on it.
Same.
I'm going to sound like an old-man-yelling-at-cloud, but the content is, well, just mindless drivel. There's a near-endless amount of informative content on youtube, but no, instead kids are drawn like a magnet to this kind of stuff. Not saying kids must spend all their screen time on Khan Academy or serious documentaries, but watching this drivel for hours on end can't be healthy for a developing brain either.
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#405Earlier quoted context omitted.
It can be and is both a business and philanthropic.
Isn't every philanthropic foundation also a "business"? The Gates Foundation had $150 million of income from their investments in 2022. The CEO of the Gates Foundation was paid $1.176 million last year. Their net assets went up by $13 billion in 2022 and up $20 billion since the beginning of 2021.
> Isn't every philanthropic foundation also a "business"?
No, only the corrupted ones.
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#406My 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…
MrBeast is exactly the media phenomenon a broken system would come up with in some 80s cyberpunk movie, as a bandaid to give people the illusion of hope: the 'happy hour' show in a boring dystopia. That is not MrBeasts fault, it's the environment's. Say you see MrBeast give thousands of people help, and you have the same problem as these people - sure, you're happy for the other people but why didn't you get any help…
> MrBeast is exactly the media phenomenon a broken system would come up with in some 80s cyberpunk movie, as a bandaid to give people the illusion of hope: the 'happy hour' show in a boring dystopia.
Nicely put. Some people claim that MrBeast's actions are better than nothing, but the money he's using are not growing on trees.
The same money could have been used to fund a fair health system, where people receive treatments based on their needs without their life becoming an exhibit for youtube.
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#407Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would it better if he paid the people to make beads or dig holes instead of entertaining his viewers?
I think so, yes. It'd be even better if he just gave the money, no strings attached.
But then he'd have no money to give away. I don't see how it's this difficult to understand. Either you have Mr Beast as we do now - curing blindness and deafness, giving people houses and cars, raising millions for tangible, proven reforestation and sea cleanup efforts - or we don't have Mr Beast at all.
I also find his videos uncomfortable to watch for many of the same reasons stated here, but I don't find them harmful, and I can appreciate how he's helped these people.
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#408It'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 listened to an interview with him and Lex Friedman a while ago. Interesting discussion. He's very systematic and data driven and that's part of what drives the success of his channel. A lot of what he does is indeed ruthlessly optimized to tap into whatever it is people appreciate across the different social media channel he targets. The guy undeniably has some serious skills and he's built a highly effective reven…
I listened to the same interview and can recommend it too. The key to understand him is how he views what he does as hacking: mastering all aspects of YouTube, every detail that attracts views.
Instead of getting hung up on what is or isn't altruism...
It's interesting how people gets stuck in that point. They want him to suffer in order to qualify for saint status. Otherwise, doing good is meaningless. On the contrary, I find very nice his happy, positive, laid back persona.
I wonder what people criticizing him thinks of well-known NGOs.
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#409My 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…
He acts and looks like those dangerous cult leaders.
Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism
#410It'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 find this take on him so strange. I also don't understand the take that altruism/philanthropy has to be zero sum. i.e. true altruism means that I lose something and you gain something. Maybe it is a hold over from religion and the idea of sacrifice being the ultimate good. The times I have had the most impact (helping people in need, teaching, starting my own NPO) it has been very much positive sum. If he has zero…
> Can someone give me some examples of philanthropy that is NOT predatory/extractive?
Shocking question, but here's an answer: millions of non-billionaires who donate some money to [good] charities.
You never hear from them because they don't go around bragging about their donations.