I only know a little bit about Mr. Beast and saw a couple of his early videos about giving away thousands of dollars in cash to homeless people. I haven't followed what he did after that except heard some controversy about him being involved in either hamburgers or chocolate (or both?).
However, if THIS is your metric...
He is an evil individual who fails to address systemic issues or assist people for their own benefit.
...it begs the question, what are you doing to address systemic issue or assist people for their own benefit. If nothing, does that mean you are evil using your logic?
A fair point, but I think OP means that this guy already has the means to make a difference but chooses to dangle it in front of needy people and make them dance for it rather than tackle poverty problems from a different angle
Not sure what OP would do with this guy’s wealth, but I’m sure there isnt a magic wand Mr Beast could wave to solve poverty even if he wanted to
but I think OP means that this guy already has the means to make a difference but chooses to dangle it in front of needy people and make them dance for it rather than tackle poverty problems from a different angle
But then if he's not getting any returns from it, it's going to dry out.
I think more than anything it's that he could use his platform to make people vote to change things. No matter what he does he can't fix things as an individual. He does have the influence to change voting habits though.
The Beast Burger thing is largely a brand protection thing and disputes with the company the handles the operations and logistics of it.
Beast Burger did help to keep restaurants open during the pandemic(expressed intent of the project) and the money made was either reinvested in marketing Beast Burger or donated to charities dealing with food insecurity.
He has literally given people back their sight and dug wells in Africa. The only way the people who are negative of him will be happy is if he gives away every dime he has, which means he won't be able to keep helping people. Can't please everybody, especially when you are making millions helping less than everybody.
Mr. Beast has harnessed the worst parts of modern capitalism to help the most left behind. Profiting while helping people is better than profiting off of hurting people, e.g. raising the cost of insulin.
Seems to me that in order to continue helping people, he needs to play within the confines of the rules of the system he is working in. Gotta make that money to give that money away. He doesn't appear to be doing it by allowing some 12-70 year old Amazon warehouse slave get heat stroke, or some other god awful situation. Apart from envy why are people complaining again?
It's not a virtue to "not profit off of things". I don't care about Mr. Beast and a lot of charity is just whitewashing someone's legacy. But you can simply "not profit" by sitting in your underwear eating Cheetos. Does that help anyone?
Still, these dumb game shows are better than a lot of entertainment. Are you equally angry at "The Price is Right" or "Wheel of Fortune"? People go nuts about a basic ass car that they would normally shrug their shoulders at.
If you want to be angry at something, pick "Fear Factor". That made people do a lot of crazy shit. There's a reason it's cancelled.
OP isn’t profitting off anybody’s misfortune like Mr. Beast.
I think we're getting to the crux of the argumet. The concept of "net good".
OP has done nothing positive for these people that need help, but also nothing negative = net good of zero
If someone offers the people that need help (Gross Good) if they participate in an activity you don't agree (Gross bad) the outcome could very well be = net good being positive. Meaning there is more good than bad, so the end result is good being done.
From what I understand (again, I'm not a Mr. Beast follower), all involved are doing so voluntarily and meaning they believe the activities they're participating in are not negative enough and they are benefiting in the end, that sounds like a net good. Now if you're making an argument about "integrity" or "humiliation" I'd question whether we have a position to raise these when the folks receiving the needed help have rent paid or full stomachs.
In other words, its easy for us (who aren't giving any money to help) to criticism some that is, in some fashion, giving money to people that need it.
the burger stuff isnt that big its just the idea that ghost kitchens don't have a standardized consistency between store to store because of chef and logistics. logistics is the bigget factor when it comes to food from a chain tasting the same from one branch to another, and historically speaking, the people best at logistics typically become the strongest.
I really don't care about MrBeast or his channel and obviously he's doing it for the views and to grow his brand but, evil? That's quite a stretch. If that's considered "evil" then we're all evil.
I watched the whole 34 minutes. Doesn't this whole argument get lost in relativism? At what point am I giving enough? When I give up my health insurance? When I move into group home?
A few thousand people wouldn't have been embarrassed on the internet
Tens of thousands of people wouldn't have been given access to clean water.
Hundreds would have never received medical care.
Amazing charities like ocean clean up and team trees would have never gotten the level of support they did.
Many were lifted out of poverty both on main channel, games channel, and philanthropy. They wouldn't be.
Thousands wouldn't be employed in jobs they like.
So given the fact that we are in the system we are in, I'm glad we have him.
As annoying as it is, to help people, you need money. People who help people without monetizing it, run out of money. It's just what it is. He's playing the game, and unlike 99% of billionaires, the game involves enriching others.
I'm fine with a system where building a home for the needy rewards you with the money to do it again. Better than the alternative.
We shouldn't be depending on rich people to do things the government should be doing. The more they do this, the less the government will do their actual job.
See: Elon Musk talking about a hyper loop as soon as California starts considering a large public rail system, effectively destroying the rail system plan and allowing him to sell more cars for way longer.
Beast isn't preventing in a solution. He went and gave water to villages that had been searching and begging for a solution for years. He gave cataract surgery to people who couldn't afford it. He gave them exactly what they wanted, not something worse then didn't deliver.
In a better world, either Mr Beast couldn't exist because people couldn't have 100,000 times more wealth thqn others, or there would be no one for him to help.
We don't live in that better world. To me it looks like the world is a better place because of him. He's helped many directly, and inspired others to help. The harm he has done seems to either be hypothetical, or claiming people were harmed who they themselves say are fine.
So it seems like the world is better because he is in it.
Agreed. No need to make him a scapegoat. He's just supplying money from corporations into the hands of people who could use it. It would be better if we didn't have to do it this way but I'd rather that then corporations just keep the money.
That fake grin he plasters all over his videos tickles that "uncanny valley" part of my brain.
That, and many years of working in hospitality has taught me that the people who make the biggest deal about their grace and charity tend to secretly be the shittiest people. There are exceptions, and I don't have any proof Mr. Beast is a secret asshole, but the pattern is there, and it remains to be seen if he's a part of it.
He's a man-child with too many resources. There was recently an interview with him, where he just suddenly left in anger, because a set piece was not the way he imagined it. Instead of trying to communicate his disappointment he just got angry and left. You could see on his crew that this is how he acts all the time, and that they were fed up with having a child as a boss.
There is something wrong with how we have structured society when a POS like him can get that successful.
I've said much the same many times (I wouldn't go quite so far too say he's "evil", but he's very clearly not a good person) and it's wild how many people will leap to the defense of the multi-millionaire. "He's helping people" they say, as if he's not explicitly aiming to enrich himself further with even his most philanthropic videos. That he did a straight up squid game enactment is completely tasteless.
I think you've hit it. He's not evil as much as opportunistic and amoral.
I saw this mini documentary about him where he simply admitted he would do anything to be famous. If the documentary is to be believed, he started filming random acts of kindness because he tried everything else and failed to achieve his goal of being famous.
I have always felt he is a bit of a psychopath. Not the evil, serial killer TV trope psychopath, but still one with that blinded, single vision, relentless pursuit mentality.
From watching interviews, he's absolutely the epitome of grind culture, but he's not doing it for cash or influence. He seems to legitimately be doing it because he wants to see how far he can go with it. But, he's so calculated and single minded with it, if feels borderline unhinged on the outside looking in. He's probably not trying to make a skin suit, but if he thinks it'll get views, he'll do anything.
I think it's plainly just sketchy when someone is doing good things but making it extremely publicly open and obvious to anyone that it's happening. There's an argument to be made around publicity = ads = more funding for similar stuff but it still feels a little icky. Not to say his contributions are negligible of course
Dude has "I have a basement of unspeakable horrors" kinda vibes. He looks dead behind his eyes, like truly soulless. We are 100% finding out some nonsense sometime in the near future.
Honestly a lot of people complain about Mr Beast, saying that his charity/etc is done purely for attention and views.
But I figure there are a ton of high profile YouTubers who make a ton of money, and just spend it on themselves or doing elaborate set ups for videos. It seems weird that Mr Beast gets more criticized for doing some good than all the comparative YouTubers who are doing nothing good. It's like by trying to do anything good he's gotten himself judged by a much higher standard than everyone else.
In a world with Andrew Tate and Joe Rogan OP goes after the most popular YouTuber simply because he makes videos that sometimes only help poor people a little. Instead of actively corrupting our youth and making men more likely to commit violent acts.
Those other YouTubers don't make their fortunes convincing much poorer people to make fools of themselves for a miniscule sliver of what beast is making by monetizing it.
This is the inverse of what I call "the Donald Trump effect". If you're a horrible person, and do something morally neutral, people will be amazed at your good deed. But if you're a generally good person, everything you do is held to a significantly higher standard. I think people just aren't used to and/or don't like seeing people do good for some reason.
I had a discussion here on Lemmy about him and was pretty roundly downvoted. His exploitation of the recipients of his actions to make more money to repeat the feat really just rubs me the wrong way. Yeah, he does good. He also gets really rich off of it. No different than charities that consume a far larger portion of their income than ever gets delivered to those they help. Do they help? Sure. But they pay themselves first.
Evil? No. I don’t think so. Many charities just take care of basic needs without messing with the system that created the problem. Mr Beast is self-aggrandizing and profitable? Sure.
I always see Mr. Beast get a lot of hate every once in a while....and I get that he has a accumulated an insane amount of wealth and fame as a kid which has given him a "unique" look on this world.
But as far as we know the know... Now in adulthood, the guy has yet to actually do anything horrible.
I mean the only thing he is guilty of is having a massive following of mindless people that feed him more eyes.
Yet people keep constantly hating on him for this. Idk if they wish they had his money, fame or what the deal is.
I see true evils happening in the world all the time yet someone always posts this focused hate on this Mr. Beast dude.
I don't think the hate is gonna stop until he is as destitute as the rest of us.
Being in obnoxious is not a crime.
Majority of jobs here in the USA exploit and humiliate a lot more than any of these videos.
I can guarantee you and I are on vastly opposite ends of a wide variety of opinions and views, but one thing everyone should be able to collectively agree on is this right here. Mr beast needs to be purged from the internet.
My guess is OP thinks there SHOULD be a law preventing people like me beast from profiting off of this sort of "entertainment". I'd say I agree but I don't know how I'd draw that line. I just don't watch.
Either bring back high taxes on the rich like President Theodore told us or don't condemn the rich for giving away money to make money. We fucked ourselves. Let's unfuck it, not talk shit about rich people giving shit away
"Looks sketchy" and "feels wrong" is a strong argument.
Don't get me wrong, I've only watched like two of his videos. Seems pretty harmless and kinda fun compared to lots of boring YouTubers stuck in their algorithms.
I avoid watching anything YT features with click bait such as this guy. I never have watched him and never will.
However, I'll add that this is basically the entire data-mining-stalkerware porn industry too. You're just watching some rich guy pay a top shelf hooker and recording it for narcissism while legally skirting human trafficking/prostitution charges in places like Los Angeles.
The real question is do we live in an authoritarian society where the person being exploited has no right to choose to be exploited. So long as Mr. Beast fully discloses his intentions, I think he has every right to exploit people. I also think, a wealth tax is needed, and a massive democratic overhaul is needed in the USA to solve very similar capitalist problems that stopped with Teddy Roosevelt. The era of Carnegie, Westinghouse, Edison, and others is extremely similar to the era of Bezos, Musk, Gates, Murdoch, and others. The billionaire class must be directly addressed and eliminated if we are going to solve the exploitation issue. This is the real problem, not the fact stupid people watch stupid nonsense for entertainment.
I don't particularly like his style - it's too loud, flashy and obnoxious - but I don't think he's an inherently bad or evil person, and actually does a whole lot of good with his charities.
Sure, some people get to look foolish in his shows, but none of them are going to suffer from long term negative consequences.
People forget how short-lived the internet is nowadays, and it's not like any of the people are ever listed with their full names or even aliases.
True, but they agree to do it because they need money. It’s like Squid Game but less extreme (I actually never saw squid game so maybe that’s a bad analogy). The system has failed these people (presumably) and he exploits their need for money in order to make himself look good and raise awareness of his brand so he can make more money too. At least I assume that’s OP’s point
They did not volunteer for the science, they volunteered for the money.
There is a reason why the voluntary sale of organs is illegal worldwide, and why scientific studies are subject to strict ethical regulations to prevent individuals from participating in activities that could harm them.
I will say that a surprising amount of people in his earlier videos were basically his team. If anything Mr Beast shines a light on what entertains us rather than him.
K calling someone evil is just fucking stupid. If your idea of human morals is "good vs evil" then just go to church and thump your bible with the rest of the morons. I cant stand mr beast, but just because I think he's vain and extremely punchable. You can't fault someone for playing the game that society has set up and playing it well. He objectively has done a shitload for the disadvantaged, so unless we find out that he's killing hookers or something then you cant even reasonably label him as "bad" (whatever that even means) because he has a well documented net positive impact on society. What have you done for society lately?
Mr. Beast is just the logical consequence of the Youtube Algorithm. Mr. Beast and Youtube are in a symbiotic relationship. It is the further refinement of advertising-based entertainment, almost surely to evolve towards an "Ow My Balls" and ASS level of intellectual content. It won't take 500 years, it's already most of the way there. It goes away if people don't watch. It's just more lurid entertainment like true crime shows, reality shows, other game shows, talk shows, and the like. It's the price paid for media where people can consume what they want and produce what they want, as long as they generally do not hurt others. And there's no real evidence that Mr. Beast is hurting anyone, people volunteer to be exploited by him to be seen, even if they look like idiots.
How DARE he provide voluntary game show contestants that chance to win money as well as the ability to walk away at every moment.
It's almost as if the contestants have their own motivations and reasons driving their willing participation in the video.
Like, honestly, half the times that shit just sounds fun. Wife and I found out that NASA was literally doing the same thing as the 100 days in a box challenge as part of a simulation for mars, and we were hyped to do it. Throw in a cash incentive? Even better.
But here's the kicker: if we weren't going to do it together, we wouldn't want to do it, and that's A VOLUNTARY DECISION I JUST MADE. Some folks would have fun participating given their situation. This isn't squid games where participants are facing harm.
OP is just mad. Their arguments really remind me of "the unborn are a convenient group of people to advocate for". You'll notice OP has absolutely no evidence that the participants believed they were taken advantage of.
EDIT: I googled "mr beast taking advantage of contestants" and the results are generally: others taking advantage of Mr. Beast and discussions about the morality of Mr Beast, but I don't see an article about how a contestant says they were taken advantage of.
I think this opinion is (thankfully) becoming more popular (all of these youtubers have their "fall" eventually when a younger and more charismatic persona comes along...only a matter of time).