MrBeast 'Curing' 1K Blind People On YouTube Isn't The Real Problem - Kotaku

YouTuber Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson has sparked an absorbing spot of sermon online due to the fact that of his latest video. Maybe this is the destiny of a contented creator erstwhile they become, arsenic successful MrBeast’s case, the “King of YouTube.” However, the ire that the feel-good creator has drawn retired is, portion close successful critique, wholly misguided successful the direction.

Read More: YouTube’s Most-Subscribed King Is Now MrBeast, Not PewDiePie

With some 131 cardinal subscribers connected Google’s video-sharing platform—and millions much crossed TikTok and Twitter—MrBeast has go the caller “King of YouTube” arsenic of November 2022, surpassing adjacent the astronomical subscriber numbers erstwhile held by creator Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg. Spend capable clip connected the tract and, careless of whether the algorithm has your fig oregon not, it’s imaginable a MrBeast video volition look connected your Home page. And adjacent if it doesn’t, his videos garner millions of views, showing up successful the Trending pages crossed categories specified arsenic the “Now” and “Gaming” sections. And with that galore eyes comes astir arsenic galore comments and thoughts.

This is precisely what happened with MrBeast’s latest video. Uploaded connected January 28, the video, titled “1,000 Blind People See For The First Time,” has already racked up much than 62 cardinal views. It’s 3rd connected YouTube’s Trending leafage astatine the clip of this writing—and for bully reason! Re-read that title. The dude helped radical get their imaginativeness back. “In this video, we’re curing 1,000 people’s blindness,” MrBeast says astatine the commencement of the precisely eight-minute-long video. “It’s gonna beryllium crazy.”

Crazy was right! As MrBeast and an unnamed surgeon successful the video explained, the folks chosen for the “10-minute surgery” look to person a signifier of cataracts, which is simply a clouding of the usually wide oculus lens. Regardless of age, the macromolecule successful the eyes tin interruption down and clump together, creating that blurriness immoderate radical experience. By utilizing a “tiny vacuum to suck up the clouded lens and regenerate it with an artificial one,” known arsenic an intraocular lens, folks are capable to spot again. And MrBeast’s video makes it a constituent to exemplify conscionable however life-changing this “simple surgery” is. He gifts radical $10,000 arsenic they rotation connected the crushed and, successful immoderate cases, outcry done clearer, saltier eyes. I mean, MrBeast gave 1 diligent a Tesla and different $50,000 towards assemblage aft the palmy procedure. Hell, MrBeast adjacent took the surgical cognition abroad, helping unsighted folks successful Brazil, Honduras, and Mexico due to the fact that “nearly fractional of the colonisation with curable blindness doesn’t person entree to this surgery.” To accidental it’s heartwarming is an understatement.

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While galore folks online applaud what MrBeast has done with this peculiar video, myself included, not everyone is blessed with his philanthropy. The main crux of the disapproval is he’s exploiting disabled folks for clout and, ultimately, revenue. Because he’s doing foundation work, folks accidental that MrBeast shouldn’t try to capitalize connected that work by creating contented that generates much eyeballs connected him. He should beryllium doing this successful secret, the statement goes, not blasting it everywhere.

But that wholly misses the point. As immoderate person pointed retired online, including streamer Hasan “Hasanabi” Piker, the existent contented isn’t MrBeast’s philanthropy but alternatively the pay-walled entree to a elemental country that could person healthy, long-lasting, affirmative effects connected an individual’s eyesight. Consider that, according to the nonprofit enactment MyVision.org, the mean outgo of cataract country successful the U.S. is anyplace betwixt $3,500 and $7,000 per eye. That’s not including immoderate benignant of security benefits, which, arsenic idiosyncratic with the often-uninsured oculus information called keratoconus, I cognize means folks could beryllium saddled with a infirmary measure successful the tens of thousands of dollars. If anything, MrBeast’s tear-jerking video is an indictment of our failing, ultra-capitalist healthcare system. The responsibility shouldn’t beryllium with MrBeast. It should beryllium with Big Pharma.

MrBeast is alert of that, asking connected Twitter wherefore don’t “governments measurement successful and help.” He seems to person internalized immoderate of the criticism, though, tweeting that folks connected the Bird App are huffy due to the fact that he’s helping others with his money, thing helium acknowledges radical expect from the wealthy. He adjacent polled his followers astir voting for him if helium ran for president, with astir 70 percent saying “Yes.” Clearly, radical bask what MrBeast does with the wealth helium makes from YouTube.

Kotaku reached retired to MrBeast for comment.

Further, signaling his philanthropic works and sharing them connected YouTube wherever they tin rack up millions of views apt funds MrBeast’s charitable actions. While relying connected the wealthiness of a azygous idiosyncratic is obscurity adjacent ideal, it’s a impermanent bandaid connected a cardinal occupation with wealthiness organisation arsenic our publically funded institutions, specified arsenic libraries and schools, are highly underserved and grossly underfunded acknowledgment to authorities inaction and pathetic legislation. It’s highly frustrating, particularly since determination are ways the breached strategy could beryllium fixed to payment much radical than it does currently.

At the extremity of the day, though, the existent contented present is capitalism. Because everything’s for profit, there’s nary mode for anyone to bash thing erstwhile money’s connected the line. Even if MrBeast were to go the president successful immoderate alternate reality, until we uncouple our nine from the ills of capitalism, until we larn to bash things simply due to the fact that it’s the close happening to bash and not due to the fact that it’ll make views and revenue, thing volition change. MrBeast isn’t infallible, and criticizing either him oregon his philanthropic efforts is wholly fine. But we should conscionable marque definite we’re criticizing the close thing, and successful this instance, what deserves ire is our dumb, privatized, for-profit healthcare system.