Philanthropy porn is just disgusting to begin with. That alone should have ended him. But people think it’s a “feel-good story” so they keep watching. A lot of times, the follow-ups to such stories feel less good since the people getting that philanthropy often can’t afford to pay to maintain whatever they’ve been given.
I was going to say I got it from somewhere, but apparently the term is usually “charity porn.” I think “philanthropy porn” works better though because it’s just as much about the philanthropist themselves as it is about what they’re offering.
But instead of just the best images of the subject matter like /cableporn or /earthporn, this has the negative connotation of voyeuristic performative prostitution. He’s the pimp, and he’s whoring out his recipients to make his money.
I agree, but on the other hand the people he helps, well, get helped, and would be worse off if he didn’t do that. Obviously it would be better if he wasn’t making money off of it, but would it be better if he stopped?
As morally dubious as he is, I’m sure the people who have access to water after his “build 100 wells in Africa” stunt would disagree with opinions that he should stop.
So I don’t know. I agree with the criticism, but I always think of the people who got help and I’m unsure what would be better.
Obviously it would be better if he wasn’t making money off of it, but would it be better if he stopped?
Yes it would be. The accumulation of so much money into so few hands is a net evil, and his videos glamorize and are used to justify that evil. Even if some (and it’s always a small portion) of that accumulation is used for good ends it’s worse than if it weren’t allowed to accumulate in the first place.
Put more simply, if wealth inequality weren’t so out of control there would be much fewer people requiring the charity.
I agree, but on the other hand the people he helps, well, get helped, and would be worse off if he didn’t do that.
This is fallacious and it plays into what I said. There is no follow-up on those people. You don’t know if they would be worse off if they weren’t helped.
He “built 100 houses and gave them away” earlier this year. Great. Is he going to pay to maintain those houses? Is he going to pay to insure them? Is he going to pay the property taxes? And, of course, now they’re tied down to one specific area because they have a house and if they don’t like their job and there isn’t another job available? They’re stuck.
Home ownership isn’t necessarily cheaper or better than renting. They may very well have been better off before the IRS let them know what they owed for that house.
Can’t they sell the house and do whatever they want with the money? Or rent it out and use that to pay for the maintenance/taxes, etc? Feels like it’s hard to argue against giving people a free house.
That being said, if even a small part of what is being said about him is true, then he’s a massive piece of shit.
I’d still take a free house from a massive piece of shit, tho.
Can’t they sell the house and do whatever they want with the money?
Possibly. If they didn’t sign some sort of contract agreeing not to do so and if there would be a market for that house. And then there’s just the psychological burden of having to give up a free house because it turns out you can’t actually afford to own a free house.
Or rent it out and use that to pay for the maintenance/taxes, etc?
That is not a simple thing. And it puts you legally on the line for a lot. That’s why corporations tend to do it.
Feels like it’s hard to argue against giving people a free house.
I can show you so many stories of people who inherit valuable things only to end up in more debt than they started with. Did MrBeast make sure all of those people actually were good at managing their money before he gave them a house? If they weren’t, did he give them some way to become financially literate? We have no idea because he won’t tell us. We also have no idea what will happen to these people and their houses in one year or five years or ten.
Home ownership isn’t necessarily cheaper or better than renting.
If you’re given a house, paying property taxes and insurance is almost certainly better and cheaper than renting.
I agree with your other points and overall with your perspective, but not this one.
Typical property taxes run about 1-2% of the home’s overall value. Unless they were all given multi-million dollar mansions they’ll be paying like 2-4k a year in property taxes. That’s far less than the cost of renting a place of equivalent size basically anywhere. You can probably afford basic homeowner expenses on a job at McDonald’s if you own your place outright.
Well they are not forced to keep the house. They can sell it, or if they don’t want it at all, they can give it away. But then why did they sign up for it in the first place?
You are saying as if they were forced against their will to get a free house.
Would you say no to a free house? People do things against their interest all the time.
You also don’t know that they weren’t required to hold on to the house for a certain amount of time in order to accept the house. I would be surprised if there weren’t such conditions. Maybe you are financially literate enough to turn down a deal like that, they aren’t necessarily.
They’re also only one job loss away from a tax lien against the house they thought they could afford to live in because they got it for free.
Philanthropy porn is just disgusting to begin with. That alone should have ended him. But people think it’s a “feel-good story” so they keep watching. A lot of times, the follow-ups to such stories feel less good since the people getting that philanthropy often can’t afford to pay to maintain whatever they’ve been given.
What an excellent description of this kind of behavior.
I was going to say I got it from somewhere, but apparently the term is usually “charity porn.” I think “philanthropy porn” works better though because it’s just as much about the philanthropist themselves as it is about what they’re offering.
Spend $1,000,000 in 24 hours!
I think you coined the term “philanthropy porn”.
But instead of just the best images of the subject matter like /cableporn or /earthporn, this has the negative connotation of voyeuristic performative prostitution. He’s the pimp, and he’s whoring out his recipients to make his money.
I agree, but on the other hand the people he helps, well, get helped, and would be worse off if he didn’t do that. Obviously it would be better if he wasn’t making money off of it, but would it be better if he stopped?
As morally dubious as he is, I’m sure the people who have access to water after his “build 100 wells in Africa” stunt would disagree with opinions that he should stop.
So I don’t know. I agree with the criticism, but I always think of the people who got help and I’m unsure what would be better.
Yes it would be. The accumulation of so much money into so few hands is a net evil, and his videos glamorize and are used to justify that evil. Even if some (and it’s always a small portion) of that accumulation is used for good ends it’s worse than if it weren’t allowed to accumulate in the first place.
Put more simply, if wealth inequality weren’t so out of control there would be much fewer people requiring the charity.
I agree, but he’s far from the enemy here, he has no money compared to the billionaires we should be fighting.
This is the kindest article I could find on his wealth and ot still brings the ethics of his money into question
https://screenrant.com/mr-beast-money-millions-rich-explained/
This is fallacious and it plays into what I said. There is no follow-up on those people. You don’t know if they would be worse off if they weren’t helped.
He “built 100 houses and gave them away” earlier this year. Great. Is he going to pay to maintain those houses? Is he going to pay to insure them? Is he going to pay the property taxes? And, of course, now they’re tied down to one specific area because they have a house and if they don’t like their job and there isn’t another job available? They’re stuck.
Home ownership isn’t necessarily cheaper or better than renting. They may very well have been better off before the IRS let them know what they owed for that house.
Can’t they sell the house and do whatever they want with the money? Or rent it out and use that to pay for the maintenance/taxes, etc? Feels like it’s hard to argue against giving people a free house.
That being said, if even a small part of what is being said about him is true, then he’s a massive piece of shit.
I’d still take a free house from a massive piece of shit, tho.
Possibly. If they didn’t sign some sort of contract agreeing not to do so and if there would be a market for that house. And then there’s just the psychological burden of having to give up a free house because it turns out you can’t actually afford to own a free house.
That is not a simple thing. And it puts you legally on the line for a lot. That’s why corporations tend to do it.
I can show you so many stories of people who inherit valuable things only to end up in more debt than they started with. Did MrBeast make sure all of those people actually were good at managing their money before he gave them a house? If they weren’t, did he give them some way to become financially literate? We have no idea because he won’t tell us. We also have no idea what will happen to these people and their houses in one year or five years or ten.
Fair enough, I see how it could all fall apart if not done properly. And based on what people are saying… it’s unlikely that he did things properly.
And that’s pretty much my argument.
If you’re given a house, paying property taxes and insurance is almost certainly better and cheaper than renting.
I agree with your other points and overall with your perspective, but not this one.
Typical property taxes run about 1-2% of the home’s overall value. Unless they were all given multi-million dollar mansions they’ll be paying like 2-4k a year in property taxes. That’s far less than the cost of renting a place of equivalent size basically anywhere. You can probably afford basic homeowner expenses on a job at McDonald’s if you own your place outright.
Well they are not forced to keep the house. They can sell it, or if they don’t want it at all, they can give it away. But then why did they sign up for it in the first place?
You are saying as if they were forced against their will to get a free house.
Would you say no to a free house? People do things against their interest all the time.
You also don’t know that they weren’t required to hold on to the house for a certain amount of time in order to accept the house. I would be surprised if there weren’t such conditions. Maybe you are financially literate enough to turn down a deal like that, they aren’t necessarily.
They’re also only one job loss away from a tax lien against the house they thought they could afford to live in because they got it for free.
You also don’t know they weren’t given ongoing support. We can both play this game.
Why wouldn’t that be made clear?
The people he helps are mostly part of the scam.
The random people in Africa that got wells drilled are part of the scam? His employees, sure, but I’m not arguing with that.