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MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

nytimes.com

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Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#421

Post by zpeti »

voidhorse wrote: post #68
kortilla wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has nothing to do with capitalism, it does have to do with the power dynamic though when one person can easily have a significant impact on another person’s life though. The same uncomfortablenesses would arise if this were videos of some govt leader going around granting early retirement to people.

And such power dynamics are (at least partially, if not to great extent) enabled by the fact that late-stage capitalism like we have in the US emphasizes individual wealth over social support systems that would otherwise redistribute wealth, make people more equal (read: give them less undue power over each other), and generally remove the conditions of possibility for this sort of content. I'm sorry but to watch Mr…

> And such power dynamics are (at least partially, if not to great extent) enabled by the fact that late-stage capitalism like we have in the US emphasizes individual wealth over social support systems that would otherwise redistribute wealth

The social systems you talk about are the biggest they’ve ever been, and the US is going to need to raise tax revenues by 30% just to break even on the current ones.

At no time in history have social nets been so strong in the west, yet it’s never enough.

I don’t know what the solution is, but saying social nets are the solution and we need more of them are about as black and white and unnuanced views as saying we need to abolish them. Neither is true.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#422

Post by scoutt »

httpz wrote: post #150

It's appalling some people are more upset that his motives were not altruistic than being happy for the people who got their eye sight back. Are we going to start criticizing doctors next because they're saving lives to get paid?

I don't think people are't happy for those who got eye sight back, but the article mentions "altruism" when it may not be and I think that is what is being debated here.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#423

Post by ethbr0 »

kcb wrote: post #166
ethbr0 wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, because the whole point of game shows is they restrict how often someone wins the jackpot, to make it profitable. Afaik, all of MrBeast's stuff is conducted with the rule that at least 1 person is going to win the jackpot.

> No, because the whole point of game shows is they restrict how often someone wins the jackpot, to make it profitable. The most famous game shows of all time don't work this way.

Which ones?

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#424

Post by throwaway2990 »

WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #377
waveBidder wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I seriously doubt he's producing more QALYs than some effective altruists on this site. Someone on a typical software engineering income (going w/120k) can donate enough to save ~2-3 lives a year[0] at 10% giving, let alone someone trying to maximize their impact (of which I'm sure there's several). [0]: https://www.givewell.org/impact-estimates

I finance significantly more through taxes than American giving 10% of its income to charity which allow every citizen of my country to enjoy the benefits of socialised medicine and unemployment insurance. The idea of cheering from someone making money by paying from basic medical treatment for poorer people makes me frankly queasy.

Eye laser surgery is considered elective. What country do you live in that covers it as part of socialise healthcare?

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#425

Post by mihaic »

I find MrBeast hollow and I doubt he can understand what creeps many of us out about his videos. It's very hard for me to put it into words as well.

His videos seem to reflect a generation that has lost hope and dignity. None of his subscribers care that his style of handout can't scale to a society, everyone want to be that person that gets a free Lambo just because they exist.

What I find most disturbing is how thin the veil of hyprocricy is, and yet still so many people fall for it.

I would be a lot less icked out by these videos if they weren't so succesful.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#426

Post by Only_Spam »

It's funny how "Mr. Beast" with no soul or content cares about others. He does charity because of tax write-off not because it benefits society. I once watched a video of his because of clickbait, and it was a waste of time targeting immature youth. He's all about hype and no substance.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#427

Post by throwaway2990 »

waveBidder wrote: post #339
throwaway2990 wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it’s for profit. No one dispute that. But his business involves giving away money. It doesn’t matter if he keeps 50% of the profits for himself and 50% is given away. He’s doing a million times more to help people than anyone on this forum.

I seriously doubt he's producing more QALYs than some effective altruists on this site. Someone on a typical software engineering income (going w/120k) can donate enough to save ~2-3 lives a year[0] at 10% giving, let alone someone trying to maximize their impact (of which I'm sure there's several). [0]: https://www.givewell.org/impact-estimates

Majority of people don’t donate. And majority of people here don’t live in America earning 120k/yr.

You’re kidding yourself if you think people on HN are contributing anything to better society.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#428

Post by j45 »

simonklitj wrote: post #273
j45 wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would an alcohol, gambling, drug or other line be more acceptable since suns are being compared?

Should’ve started a MrBeast asparagus line.

There’s a deeper question of altruism not being able to have a financial engine to fund it.

Learning about the different types of social enterprise, it’s not uncommon for for profit ventures to incorporate aspects.

Still, some of this can come down to sour grapes that earning money can disproportionately and more sustainably be used for good than normal.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#429

Post by defrost »

throwaway2990 wrote: post #424
WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I finance significantly more through taxes than American giving 10% of its income to charity which allow every citizen of my country to enjoy the benefits of socialised medicine and unemployment insurance. The idea of cheering from someone making money by paying from basic medical treatment for poorer people makes me frankly queasy.

Eye laser surgery is considered elective. What country do you live in that covers it as part of socialise healthcare?

Eye laser surgery? (LASIK, PRK, etc.)

I thought the discussion here was about cataract surgery.

Australia has "free if you're poor and can wait" o/wise relatively cheap depending on your private health insurance.

https://www.finder.com.au/cataract-surgery-costs

Working vision correction to avoid glasses | contacts is purely elective in .au

https://www.finder.com.au/laser-eye-surgery

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#430

Post by blitzar »

narag wrote: post #408
jillesvangurp wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 contra…

Instead of getting hung up on what is or isn't altruism...

Until BeastHQ PR agency decides that it needs to plant stories in major news publications to counter the original narative and rebrand away from hacking: mastering all aspects of YouTube, every detail that attracts views to full fledged saint.

> thinks of well-known NGOs.

I have many uncharitable words for the vast majority of charities, workers, donors and charity galas - the problem with both cases is when people stop being honest and go from admitting the reality to claiming they are a saint.

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