MrBeast, False Generosity, Capitalist Influencers, & 21st Century Philanthropy

Deconstructing the capitalist philanthropic influencer

MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, is the most subscribed Youtube channel, with 335 million subscribers. His meteoric rise to fame was paved by making videos in which he would do “good deeds” such as giving food and money to poor people or surprising friends with fancy gifts like cars and electronics. He also makes “challenge” videos where people have to compete in ridiculous and absurd challenges like being the last to leave a circle drawn on the ground to win, say, $100 thousand dollars. All the while, he took those “good deeds” to the next level by making a philanthropy channel where he would record himself building wells in Africa, building homes for the homeless, protecting endangered species, saving the environment, planting trees, cleaning up the oceans, and even paying to cure people’s blindness! For many years, MrBeast was considered an Internet paragon saint of generosity and noblesse oblige who could do no wrong; a shining example of the ethical capitalist who gives back to the community, helps others, and improves the world while making their fortune. It seems like a win-win; people get helped, viewers feel at ease and heartwarmed by his wholesome content, and MrBeast makes money from helping people. Sounds too good to be true, right?

Unsurprisingly, this was all smoke and mirrors. Several months ago, MrBeast’s impeccable public image was shattered by a string of scandals and exposes. The list of accusations is long, including; rigging the challenges so that only his already rich Youtuber friends (who “merely” have tens of millions of subscribers instead of hundreds) ever won the big prizes, driving people insane by locking them in a windowless solitary cell for a month in one of the challenges for money, exploiting his fanbase of children by targeting them with unhealthy junk food, trashing natural sites when filming videos, turning people and their lives into props to be used and discarded, covering up child predators and groomers in his staff, intimidation against whistleblowers and staff members, censoring critical comments, trying to make a Squid Games-like show in real life complete with abuse of participants, and most importantly for this essay, faking those philanthropic projects he’s well known for.

Why am I not surprised? Because all of MrBeast’s generosity is already inherently false generosity from the very beginning. Not fake as in nonexistent, but false as in deceptive. Though, it’s not too big of a step to go from false generosity to fake AND false generosity. MrBeast’s philanthropy is false generosity because while it seems great on the surface, it completely ignores the exploitative structures of power that underlie our world and society. He makes a tiny dent in the problem by throwing a few thousand dollars at it and plays it up as much as possible for selfish PR purposes; then when the cameras stop rolling and the money stops flowing, it turns out not that much has changed and the same problems and structures of exploitation are still there.

I think this is on purpose. Philanthropists like MrBeast, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos intentionally play a pacifying role in the system in which they throw a few crumbs downstairs to legitimize both their ludicrous fortunes and the exploitative system through which they make those fortunes. This paper examines Freire, Arendt, Foucault, Weber, and DuBois to argue that philanthropy and false generosity by people and institutions in power serves to perpetuate exploitative and dehumanizing power structures.

False Generosity

Philanthropy by the rich is false generosity because it does not break down hierarchies of exploitation, but rather reinforces them and can only exist in such a context of exploitation. Paulo Freire puts this excellently in his 1970 book Pedagogy of the Oppressed; “Any attempt to "soften" the power of the oppressor in deference to the weakness of the oppressed almost always manifests itself in the form of false generosity; indeed, the attempt never goes beyond this. In order to have the continued opportunity to express their "generosity," the oppressors must perpetuate injustice as well. An unjust social order is the permanent fount of this "generosity," which is nourished by death, despair, and poverty. That is why the dispensers of false generosity become desperate at the slightest threat to its source.” (44)

And that is why Carnegie, the so-called philanthropist, broke strikes and destroyed unions in his steel mills to maximize profit while professing charity to everyone else. It’s also why Jeff Bezos, the so-called philanthropist, broke strikes and destroyed unions in Amazon to maximize profit while professing charity to everyone else. To them, the unions represent a threat to the unjust social order they profit from. Unions are not perfect, but if unions across the country succeeded in securing better living standards for all workers, it would not only cut into their profits, but also loosen the dependence of the oppressed on the oppressors, lessening the impressiveness of the oppressors’ philanthropy and weakening one of their moral excuses - that “at least” the rich give back to the community.

That excuse is weakened if the community can take care of itself. After all, there’s not much point to a “housing for all” philanthropic foundation if everyone already has houses. That’s why the ruling classes, despite virtue signalling about how homelessness is a huge problem, never actually do anything to fix it. To them, homelessness, poverty, and suffering are not problems to be fixed, but excellent opportunities for false generosity. A starving African child is not merely to be fed, but to be taken a picture of with a wealthy CEO shoving a spoonful of porridge in their mouth. Of course, the main focus of that picture is not the child and how the system has failed them, but the wealthy CEO and how “kind” and “generous” he is.

All philanthropists, no matter the century, strategically use false generosity to paint themselves as caring, conscientious capitalists while at the same time justifying and perpetuating the exploitative power structures that they just so happen to sit on top of. The cycle is completed when the exploitation of people reproduces the ideal conditions for false generosity to flourish, and then it repeats again. That’s why philanthropy is still a thing after multiple centuries.

MrBeast’s Dehumanizing, Paternalistic “Charity”

Where does MrBeast fit into this power structure? It’s complicated. While the rest of the exploitative capitalist system produces, as Arendt would say in her 1951 book The Origins of Totalitarianism, “human debris” (150), or as Freire would say, “rejects of life” (45), MrBeast swoops in like a vulture to take advantage of their death, despair, and poverty, positioning himself like a white savior who comes in and fixes all of their problems by paternalistically and “generously” throwing money at them. That’s his whole business model and people eat it up. MrBeast would have to work an honest job instead of doing this false generosity bullshit if there weren’t so many people being thrown away and discarded by society.

Ironically, he himself perpetuates this dehumanization because in his videos, he throws away and discards people like props, their only use to him being that they are people in need who he can film being given help by him, painting him as such a “KIND” and “GENEROUS” person. Notice that whenever MrBeast does one of his charity stunts, like walking down the street to give homeless people money so he can sell it as a feel-good wholesome video, the power structure of the encounter is always, always the same; he goes up to the person, gives them money, squeezes every last opportunity to get them to say something like, “oh my god, thank you so much, you changed my life!” to the cameras, and then MrBeast walks away and leaves them behind. In the streets. While he’s most likely gonna get into his fancy sports car a few blocks away and drive home to his mansion and forget that that person even existed in a few hours. In all cases, the power of money and the agency of the person who has it is reinforced.

How MrBeast’s False Generosity Reinforces Social Hierarchy & Inequality

DuBois argues that the establishment and assertion of social hierarchy is baked into the very idea of false generosity. DuBois in his 1920 book Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil, in the context of “generous” white people helping “unfortunate” black people, writes; “So long, then, as humble black folk, voluble with thanks, receive barrels of old clothes from lordly and generous whites, there is much mental peace and moral satisfaction. But when the black man begins to dispute the white man’s title to certain alleged bequests of the Fathers in wage and position, authority, and training; and when his attitude toward charity is sullen anger rather than humble jollity; when he insists on his human right to swagger and swear and waste, - then the spell is suddenly broken and the philanthropist is ready to believe that Negroes are impudent, that the South is right, and that Japan wants to fight America.” (18-19)

MrBeast’s false generosity, like the false generosity of white supremacists, is aimed at making sure their recipients know their place in the social order; him and his money at the top, you at the bottom. He has agency and freedom, you have no agency and are dependent on his generosity. DuBois says that “A true and worthy ideal frees and uplifts a people; a false ideal imprisons and lowers.” (20) Clearly, philanthropy is a false ideal because it steals the receiver’s agency and lowers their social status.

False Hope, Mental Peace & Moral Satisfaction

That “mental peace and moral satisfaction” DuBois mentions just so happens to be one of the biggest products of MrBeast’s videos. In his comments sections you’ll find so many people gushing about how MrBeast restored their hope for humanity and made them feel like all is right in the world. This serves the status quo because contented, placated people won’t go out of their way to question or challenge the system. A skilled enough propagandist like MrBeast could even fool them into defending it as if they were inflicted by Stockholm syndrome; and he does.

But hope created by false generosity can only ever be false hope; thin, brittle, fragile, and easily shattered and turned to anger if it’s ever disturbed. Ever noticed how any criticism of MrBeast is always violently shut down because HOW DARE THEY criticize the ALL GENEROUS MrBeast?!? It’s because people would prefer to believe in a comforting, patronizing fantasy in which generous rich people provide for everyone out of the “KINDNESS OF THEIR HEARTS” rather than confront the harsh truth that they are only doing it for selfish reasons while continuing to fuck us over in a million different ways.

If we changed DuBois’s line to fit MrBeast, it would still apply with terrifying accuracy; so long, then, as humble poor folk, voluble with thanks, receive bundles of dollar bills from the lordly and generous MrBeast, there is much mental peace and moral satisfaction among MrBeast and his audience. But when the poor man begins to dispute MrBeast’s wealth and intentions; and when his attitude toward being recorded smiling and waving at the camera while receiving free money is sullen anger rather than humble jollity; when he insists on his human right to swagger and swear and waste, - then the spell is suddenly broken and MrBeast’s stans are ready to believe that poor people are ungrateful, they don’t deserve anything, and they should count themselves fortunate to be graced with the holy, blessed, sacred presence of MrBeast.

MrBeast’s False Intentions Are A Corrupt Sham

If MrBeast is so generous, why doesn’t MrBeast give ALL his money and possessions away? Freire says that even if philanthropy is done in the best spirit, it will never be anything more than false generosity as long as the oppressor remains separate and above the oppressed. He writes, “Discovering himself to be an oppressor may cause considerable anguish, but it does not necessarily lead to solidarity with the oppressed. Rationalizing his guilt through paternalistic treatment of the oppressed, all the while holding them fast in a position of dependence, will not do. Solidarity requires that one enter into the situation of those with whom one is solidary; it is a radical posture.” (49)

If MrBeast was really serious about generosity and uplifting people from poverty, he would immediately give all his wealth to people who need it and thereby enter into the same situation of the people he professes to care about in solidarity with them. But despite giving away what seems like so much in his videos, he lives a life of degenerate hedonistic Hollywood celebrity luxury and has amassed a net worth of $500 million, more money than most of us will ever see in our lives. These facts are more indicative of MrBeast’s true intentions than any of his million words that profess generosity will ever be.

One does not accidentally obtain a net worth of $500 million dollars. His goal was always, from the beginning, to use philanthropy to make money. The money he “gives away” is equivalent to the operating costs at any other business in that he expects a return on investment; and boy howdy does he get that return on investment.

MrBeast’s Patronizing Actions Are An Insincere Sham

Not only are his intentions a sham, Freire would also probably say that all of MrBeast’s “generous” actions in favor of the people are a sham; “A real humanist can be identified more by his trust in the people, which engages him in their struggle, than by a thousand actions in their favor without that trust.” (60)

Judging from the very nature of his videos, in which MrBeast alone decides who gets money and how much, based on arbitrary conditions that only HE sets, it’s obvious that he does NOT have trust in the people. Instead, he treats them like children who are given pocket money if they do as they’re told and behave nicely. And of course, you don’t see him joining the people in fighting for social and economic justice on the streets and in picket lines. No sir, he considers himself ABOVE all that, thinking that raining money from above is a preferable substitute to genuine struggle alongside the oppressed.

His bootlicking defenders often say that if he gave everything away, he wouldn’t have the money to help any more people. But not only is this argument disempowering in assuming that the only way to have agency in this world is to have money, it is also disingenuous and completely false, because people can always work together to help each other overcome both natural and manmade challenges, regardless of how much money they have.

A Monstrous, Self-Perpetuating, Self-Funding Social Media Philanthropy Empire

The real reason why MrBeast doesn’t want to part with his fortune is that if he gave everything away, he wouldn’t be able to continue fueling his Youtube money making machine and amassing his own fortune. In this case, the saying “it takes money to make money” helps to explain a lot. Asking MrBeast to give away all his money is like asking Jeff Bezos to liquidate Amazon; it’s not gonna happen. This was his goal from the start; wealth, fame, and joining the elite oppressor class.

Again, one does not accidentally obtain a net worth of $500 million dollars. The false generosity and “helping people” schtick was always a means to an end. One which MrBeast takes more literally than most other philanthropists. Others would be happy to make their fortunes by exploiting others, and then lock away their money behind “foundations” to be doled out selectively as they saw fit, like kings and queens of old handing out tiny portions of the royal treasury to appease the people and enhance their own reputations.

Traditional philanthropy is bad enough, but MrBeast came up with a particularly vile corruption of this idea. He has somehow managed to turn philanthropy, something which usually loses you money (which is why philanthropists usually make their money exploiting some other sector of the economy), into a business model which GAINS you money, by simply publicizing it to an audience desperate to feel that something is right in this world, which is largely under the boots of a cruel and unjust social order in which the rich get richer, the middle class gets poorer, and the poor get FUCKED in the ass.

No wonder that such a desperate population is bound to grab on with all its might to what seems like an extremely generous member of the bourgeoisie actually caring about them. People were even calling on MrBeast to run for President before the scandals broke out. Carnegie and Rockefeller must be rolling over in their graves seeing this young upstart (born in 1998 and 26 years old at the time of writing this!) turning the whole philanthropy equation upside down and creating from it a monstrous, self-perpetuating, self-funding social media empire. I think even he himself says that it’s like an infinite money glitch. When he hands out a thousand dollars to homeless people, he makes back tens of thousands in Youtube ad revenue from people gushing about just how “kind” and “generous” he is.

If you believe in the idea of the “invisible hand of the market”, then perhaps this ad revenue money is the market’s way of telling MrBeast that his service as a member of the oppressor class who, from time to time, throws a few crumbs to the masses to pacify them, is highly valued, because it allows all the other oppressors to get on with their real business of hoarding wealth and controlling the people.

Superfluous Capital (MrBeast) Exploiting Superfluous People

The relationship between MrBeast and the people he “generously” helps is awfully similar to the relationship Arendt described between superfluous (unnecessary) capital and superfluous people. Arendt said that, in the context of superfluous capital and superfluous people teaming up to imperialize the world because without imperialism both were superfluous/unnecessary, “The owners of superfluous wealth were the only men who could use the superfluous men who came from the four corners of the earth.” (151)

This also describes the relationship between ALL philanthropists and the people they “generously” help. Imagine you, a wealthy capitalist, have a bunch of superfluous money lying around, but you have to improve your public image and justify why you have all that money lying around. How convenient that there’s so many needy, superfluous people laying around just waiting to be helped! MrBeast takes this to an extreme because superfluous people aren’t just nice sources of reputation, but his main way of making money.

While MrBeast’s business model is a hilarious mockery of traditional library-building Carnegie-style philanthropy, the one good thing about it is that it at least stretches the idea to such a comical extreme that it makes it plainly clear why philanthropists, despite all their holier-than-thou virtue signalling about change and despite all their false generosity, have a vested interest in upholding the exploitative, dehumanizing status quo; so that they always have a ready supply of needy people they can selfishly help to boost their own reputation, or in the case of MrBeast, doubly exploit them even further for even more money.

How MrBeast Exploits Vulnerability & Emotional Dependence

MrBeast stans, when confronted with the idea that it is possible to exploit people by “helping” them, often retreat to the old, predictable refrain that at least he’s doing SOME good. But Freire warns that “Those who work for liberation must not take advantage of the emotional dependence of the oppressed— dependence that is the fruit of the concrete situation of domination which surrounds them and which engendered their unauthentic view of the world. Using their dependence to create still greater dependence is an oppressor tactic.” (66)

It’s clear that MrBeast isn’t fighting for liberation; he’s just fighting to put as much money in his pockets as possible. But in case it weren’t already obvious enough to everyone else, MrBeast’s philanthropy takes advantage of people’s dependence to put them even deeper in the hole of dependence rather than digging them out of it. He only ever hands out one-time sums of money for no reason, or for completing stupid, pointless, vapid “challenges” like “being the last one to touch a car wins the car”; he does not teach people any skills; does not teach people how to make things; does not teach people how to think critically; does not teach people how to stand up for themselves; does not teach people how to make their own way in the world.

He even takes advantage of the emotional dependence of the oppressed by positioning himself as the white savior, the Messiah, the man with the money who can make everything right. It is dehumanizing and disempowering to the people he “helps”, while selfishly puffing up his own stature and reputation.

Philanthropy as a Tool of Power

Freire says that working to transform the world is the pinnacle of liberation, but MrBeast teaches people that working and changing the world is uncool and pointless. He teaches people that all you have to do to succeed is to do whatever rich people want you to do so they give you the money you need. Including when rich people ask things of you that destroy your health and sanity, like starving yourself so you can win a Ferrari, or working long hours for them for pennies. He teaches inaction, obedience, and dependence; the very opposite of liberation.

And what happens to people who are made dependent on handouts? Like those who “make a fortune” from the lottery, once the money runs out, they’re screwed and trapped in cycles of dependence; but we don’t ever get to see that part because the cameras have stopped rolling long after MrBeast gets what he wants out of them. Of course, that assumes that those people who get the money actually NEEDED the money in the first place. Remember how I said that MrBeast would rig challenges so that only his rich Youtuber friends would ever win the big prizes? If that is true, then his “challenges” are really just bourgeoisie circlejerks passing around money around the same inner circle of people, pretending that “normal” people can actually win the game, while the outcome is already decided.

In a way, it’s a twisted mirror image of the American Dream, where the promise of earning, making it big, and “winning” is forever dangled just out of reach of the plebs to get them to work for the ruling class, but they never actually get it. In combination with the paternalistic false generosity practiced by MrBeast and other philanthropists like him to calm people down whenever they begin to get too rowdy and/or disillusioned, they’ve got us all trapped here in a self-perpetuating, self-justifying, exploitative structure of power that has well-prepared defenses, physical, mental, rhetorical, and psychological, honed by centuries of repression.

How MrBeast Teaches Children to Idolize Oppressors Like Him

There is another thing MrBeast can “teach” if one were paying close enough attention; how to become just like him! AKA, a scamming, grifting, big-name, big-money, sellout, clickbaity, scummy, soulless, heartless, immoral, dirty, greedy, exploitative, corporate Youtuber who plays the attention economy algorithm game to perfection and gets rewarded for it.

For those especially unscrupulous, one can even copy MrBeast’s business model of bullshit philanthropy and ridiculous, wacky, dehumanizing, and probably rigged challenges down to the very last detail, including the style of the clickbait thumbnails. MrBeast is such a huge phenomenon that there has come to be such a thing as “MrBeast copycats”. Why do people strive to be like him instead of calling him out on his bullshit? Because, according to Freire, “Their ideal is to be men; but for them, to be men is to be oppressors. This is their model of humanity.” (45)

This means that in the context of the hierarchical power structure we live in, we are not only trapped in the sense that social mobility is at an all time low, but we are also trapped in the sense that as long as we continue to idolize the wealthy, the famous, the celebrities, and oppressors in general, the same way that MrBeast is idolized because he is wealthy AND “generous”, we will only ever feed back into the power structure no matter where we are, whether as part of the oppressors, the sub-oppressors who do their bidding in exchange for more respect and better living conditions, or the oppressed who form part of the workforce as well as serve as a pool of surplus labor that can be swapped in and out of the scripted positions of oppressor and sub-oppressor as needed to keep this whole power structure, this script, from falling apart.

MrBeast’s Fetishization of Money

What concerns me is that MrBeast specifically targets children with flashy editing and outrageous clickbait. This is no accident; children are especially malleable, impressionable, and vulnerable to propaganda. As a testament to the success of this propaganda campaign, he is probably the reason why in one survey I heard about, most children’s dream career is to become a Youtuber just like him.

Besides the issue that he could be inspiring children to become just like him when they grow up, thereby perpetuating the problem by potentially creating thousands more parasitic, exploitative MrBeast copycats in future decades, he is also, either intentionally or unintentionally, teaching them lessons, values, and morals that could stick with them for the rest of their lives.

What kind of morals is he teaching them? That money is king? That you should worship money? That money is the only thing and everything that is worth doing anything for in this life? That you should be willing to lift mountains, go through heaven and hell, suffer pain and deprivation, step on other people, and even die in pursuit of money? Everything MrBeast does revolves around money; its commodification, its paternalistic distribution, fierce competition over it, its value, its power, its fetishization. Is this really who we want our future generation to idolize as their model of humanity?

In terms of fetishization of money, MrBeast rivals Mr Krabs from Spongebob. In MrBeast’s trashy clickbait video thumbnails and titles, money always features prominently; usually some eye-watering amount like $100 thousand dollars combined with a picture of him and his stupid soulless corporate grin holding up wads of dollar bills! Money, money, money!

Anyone who says that at least MrBeast is politically neutral is naive at best or deceptive at worst. Can’t you see how the very content of his channel, by putting money on a pedestal rather than morals, work, kindness, solidarity, or true generosity, upholds and reinforces the script of the capitalist power structure, which revolves around money? The next generation is being primed to believe that the ideal of being a person means to have money, and lots of it; and that the model of humanity is a rich person; an oppressor. But they are also being taught that it is fine, glamorous and cool even, to be the oppressor as long as you throw down a few crumbs here and there.

This belief will only reinforce the capitalist power structure no matter the position of the person who believes it. The oppressors will use their philanthropy and false generosity as an excuse for their violence and oppression, while the oppressed and sub-oppressors, in their desperate attempt to reach the humanity that they have been so deprived of, strive to become oppressors to attain it rather than refusing to play their scripted roles to escape the system because they are fooled into thinking that false generosity is the height of virtue and humanity! It all feeds back into and strengthens the system.

MrBeast’s Sadistic Philanthropy

MrBeast’s sadistic challenges are the best example of how his “generosity” is really false generosity. Freire says that “True generosity consists precisely in fighting to destroy the causes which nourish false charity. False charity constrains the fearful and subdued, the "rejects of life," to extend their trembling hands. True generosity lies in striving so that these hands—whether of individuals or entire peoples—need be extended less and less in supplication, so that more and more they become human hands which work and, [by] working, transform the world.” (45)

In many MrBeast challenges, ordinary people are made to compete against each other by hanging a $100 thousand check over their heads. It never occurs to him that the reason people are so desperate to fight over money is because of the root cause of exploitation by the capitalist system. Or maybe it does occur to him, but instead of fighting to end it, he just decided to unscrupulously exploit the exploited even further to grow his channel and make money.

In some videos, MrBeast goes out and just asks random people to do whatever he wants in exchange for a thousand dollars. It’s like that scene in Westerns where they make someone dance by shooting at their feet. Imagine being a guy in a convenience store suddenly being asked to do the nae nae by some rich guy hanging a thousand dollars over you; a whole month’s worth of pay! The difference between being evicted and keeping a roof over your head! The difference between going hungry and eating Domino’s pizza that night! Of fucking course you’ll do it! You’ll dance, you’ll debase yourself, you’ll bend over, you’ll extend your trembling hands, you’ll do anything for the camera, you’ll do everything to beg without verbally begging!

Dance, Puppet, Dance! The Puppeteering Power of Money

To hammer the point home, Freire says “Pedagogy which begins with the egoistic interests of the oppressors (an egoism cloaked in the false generosity of paternalism) and makes of the oppressed the objects of its humanitarianism, itself maintains and embodies oppression. It is an instrument of dehumanization.” (54).

It’s clear that MrBeast is in this for very egoistic interests, because he makes money from this whole charade of philanthropy and false generosity; no wonder he dehumanizes the people he “helps”. How about that person who did a challenge to stay in a windowless solitary cell for nearly a month, couldn’t leave, couldn’t sleep because the lights were constantly on, then was forced to run a marathon, all so big sugar daddy MrBeast would pay off their student loans? That person came out the other end a broken, traumatized man all so MrBeast could put his suffering on video as a “cool and wacky challenge” and make tens of thousands of dollars, literally off his misery. And in the end, MrBeast didn’t even upload the video because he thought it could paint him in a bad light! So all this sadistic bullshit was for NOTHING!

I did not use the word “sadistic” by accident; this level of control and possessiveness over someone else, Freire argues, constitutes a form of sadism by the oppressor over the oppressed. It is no surprise, then, that MrBeast is trying to do a real-life version of Squid Games called “Beast Games”, complete with abuse and mistreatment of the participants. You know, the game show from that TV show a couple years back where desperate people driven to poverty by the oppressive system compete with each other in a deadly game show where people get killed, because they get lots of money if they win? In this version, people don’t get killed, but the dehumanization, exploitation, and extreme competition; which also regularly features in other MrBeast challenges; still remains.

Mainstream criticisms of MrBeast often touch on this point and express some sort of discomfort at how he hangs money over poor people to exploit them, but never really go deep enough to ask the question that is illuminated by examples of exploitation such as these; What kind of fucking system do we live in that money has such a powerful hold on people’s lives that one person can turn another person into their personal dancing marionette puppet by dangling money over them? It’s sad. It’s dehumanizing. It’s sickening! How could anyone call this true generosity and uphold MrBeast as a shining example of capitalist noblesse oblige???

Anyone who does has been fooled by MrBeast’s messianic mystique, which he very intentionally cultivates to create a cult of personality around him. One that paints him as a faultless, saintly, perfect, honest, generous, kind, rich person who can do no wrong and is on your side looking out for you. When in reality, he’s kicking it back on the weekends sipping martinis and having luxury pool parties with his rich Youtuber friends, laughing at how easy it is to fool people into thinking he’s “generous”, while the rest of us have to scrabble and struggle to get by.

Comparing Old & New Methods of Elite Philanthropy

MrBeast, no doubt recognizing that this kind of challenge/competition/handout false generosity might not hold up to scrutiny forever, branched out into what you might call more “traditional” philanthropy, building homes and infrastructure and such in impoverished regions and countries (but of course, not lifting a finger to fix the injustices of property law and the real estate industry), as well as doing things like funding medical operations (but of course, not lifting a finger to fix the broken for-profit healthcare systems in the US and other countries around the world).

At first, the “establishment” philanthropists eyed him with suspicion, saying that he’s not doing it the “RIGHT” way like their fancy “institutions” and “foundations”, calling it “unsustainable” because all the poorly-built infrastructure falls apart the moment MrBeast turns his camera away. They are not saying this because they’re actually concerned about the people they’re “helping”, but because they’re concerned that his foolish, short-sighted methods could diminish the credibility of ALL philanthropists.

MrBeast’s kind of splashy, publicized, shameless, for-profit philanthropy, after all, is even more indefensible than Bill Gates’ or Jeff Bezos’ kind of faux-dignified, subtle, quiet, tax-writeoff philanthropy which silently toils in the background to accumulate an arsenal of capitalist apologias, ready to be pulled out in defense of the system whenever anyone dares to question why they have so much money while everyone else has so little. MrBeast’s philanthropy, though it does justify and perpetuate the capitalist system just like Bill Gates’ “foundations”, is a little too obvious and risks someone drawing the comparison between MrBeast and those capitalist philanthropists stockpiling rhetorical munitions behind the scenes; a comparison I’m drawing right now.

Thus, the old-school capitalists chide MrBeast for his “improper” and “clumsy” philanthropic techniques, but do not condemn him because he’s ultimately still on their side and working towards the same goal; more money for themselves and the upholding of the status quo. Despite how much the old-school philanthropists try to distance themselves from MrBeast, they both clearly fulfil the same role of justifying and perpetuating exploitative and dehumanizing structures of power. I would not be surprised if 10 or 20 years from now, they do a collaboration together, because they’re functionally already doing the same thing.

Patronizing, Paternalistic Philanthropy

Both kinds of philanthropists also use extremely similar methods. Whenever they “help” someone, it is always done in a patronizing, paternalistic way so that the recipient is dehumanized and reduced to a prop on a movie set whose sole purpose is to do whatever the philanthropist wants, smile sweetly, wave cheerfully, shake hands humbly, and act grateful and surprised when they open up the giant Christmas box in front of them and get a PS4 or a car or a house or a thousand dollars or whatever.

To the philanthropists, homeless people, poor people, broke college students in crippling debt, and all other superfluous people in need around the world are just fucking props to be taken advantage of, either for PR/reputation value, Youtube ad revenue, or in the case of MrBeast, both. Bonus points if these superfluous people come from Africa, because Africa is like the capitalist class’s philanthropist sandbox playground for whenever they want to fly in, throw a few crumbs of their superfluous wealth to the oppressed, and film themselves doing so to look good, feel good, absolve themselves of all guilt just like Freire said, pretend that they’re not oppressors, then fly out.

And guess what? It is NO COINCIDENCE that from a quick glance at MrBeast’s most recent philanthropy videos, about half of them take place in Africa; electrifying thatch-hut villages, building wells, protecting endangered species, building homes, etc. It turns out that MrBeast is not so different from all the other capitalist philanthropists after all...

Philanthropy as an Ideological Shield of the Status Quo Against Criticism & Opposition

Philanthropists also love to use their charity as a shield against criticism of both them and the broader social order they profit from. It is no coincidence that critique of MrBeast’s exploitative actions is met by extremely similar excuses as you would get if you critique Jeff Bezos’s or Bill Gates’s exploitative actions; always some predictable variation of “they deserve their money!”, or “they’re doing more to help than you!” or “you’re just jealous!” And these excuses rear their ugly heads even more when you directly critique their false generosity-uhm, sorry, “philanthropic” efforts themselves.

Freire says that this is because “The oppressors do not perceive their monopoly on having more as a privilege which dehumanizes others and themselves. They cannot see that, in the egoistic pursuit of having as a possessing class, they suffocate in their own possessions and no longer are; they merely have. For them, having more is an inalienable right, a right they acquired through their own "effort," with their "courage to take risks." If others do not have more, it is because they are incompetent and lazy, and worst of all is their unjustifiable ingratitude towards the "generous gestures" of the dominant class. Precisely because they are "ungrateful" and "envious," the oppressed are regarded as potential enemies who must be watched.” (59)

Freire was especially prescient when he said that people who rightly recognized false generosity as such would be labelled “ungrateful” and “envious”. Aren’t critiques of gross wealth inequality all too often swept under the rug by accusing the critic of being envious of the oppressor’s wealth? And nowadays, these excuses are not even offered by the philanthropists themselves (that would be too obvious), but by their followers and admirers from the ranks of the sub-oppressors and oppressed who have been tricked into believing that their false generosity is the substitute for true generosity. They have been so thoroughly fooled that they think this false philanthropic generosity is the only way to express generosity. Very few people think about true generosity as Freire defined it; fighting to end the root causes of exploitation and dehumanization. Instead, the dominant 21st century idea of “generosity” is the “opportunity” to donate to this or that cause, maybe volunteer at a soup kitchen or two.

The More Things Seem to Change, The More They Stay The Same

This is perhaps the nastiest part of false generosity and philanthropy; it lulls people into a false sense of security, tricking them into thinking that big change is happening when in fact, the root causes of the problems which lie deep in the hierarchical system itself remain completely untouched. Only too late do people realize that many philanthropic projects, which usually promise utopian visions of dramatic, sweeping societal change, actually result in no significant or meaningful long-term societal changes.

Remember MrBeast’s TeamTrees and TeamSeas fundraisers? They said something like, for every dollar you donate, MrBeast (and the people he hires) will plant a tree or clean up a pound of trash from the oceans! And he sold this as a way to “save the environment”! And the craziest part is that people actually believed this! As if we could “save the environment” by planting trees slower than they’re being chopped down, or by cleaning trash in the ocean slower than it’s being piled up! No wonder those fundraisers did jackshit! And no, “raising awareness” doesn’t count; it’s just a buzzword that fundraisers that do absolutely nothing can use to cover their asses. (For a better example of raising awareness, see how the recent murder of the United Healthcare CEO did infinitely more to raise awareness of the exploitative US healthcare system than any politician’s boring, uninspiring speech or any foundation’s performative, aloof fundraiser ever did in the last 100 years.)

The real questions we should be asking are: Why are forests being deforested so quickly? And; Why is there so much trash flowing into the oceans? But MrBeast never paid any meaningful attention to those questions that deal with the root causes of the problem, because he’d rather take advantage of the problem to make a flashy “activist” campaign to produce good PR for himself and scam us out of our money than do the hard work of really solving societal problems and challenging the status quo.

Performative Philanthropy Ignoring the Root Causes

I suppose this was predictable, because it’s just like the rest of MrBeast’s shitty videos; he would rather sell us some shallow, pretentious, performative, feel-good bullshit that looks generous, noble, heroic, and good on the surface and might help one or two or a few people but doesn’t actually fix the root cause of the problem, which will continue to affect millions.

Feed the hungry, but never question why they’re hungry. House the homeless, but never question why they’re homeless. Plant trees, but never question why they’re being chopped down. Clean trash, but never question why there’s so much trash in the first place. Even if we assume the best of intentions, it’s a short-sighted method that will never produce any significant change. It’s like trying to put a band-aid on a wound while being shot at by a rapid-fire machine gun. To solve the problem, you stop the machine gun, not keep putting on more band-aids!

And yet this is the standard operating procedure of all philanthropists; alleviate some problems at a small scale, completely ignore the root causes. Perhaps that’s on purpose. When you put it this way, it becomes undeniably obvious that MrBeast, like all the other capitalist philanthropists, is a feckless pawn of the status quo rather than its challenger!

Smoke & Mirrors; The Deliberate Illusion of Change

This is not only a problem with individual philanthropists but with broader societal institutions as well, especially those who profess change or promise to “improve your life” in any way. In fact, both are often tied together, with the philanthropist as the friendly public face that comes out once in a while to appear in interviews and photo ops and cut the red ribbon on projects with those ridiculous giant scissors; and the institution as the henchman that does the dirty work behind the scenes.

The oppressors have a vested interest in sustaining the unjust system and all the problems that come with it because they profit from it, but they somehow have to find a way to deal with the demands of the people to change or overthrow the system to fix its inherent problems. The obvious solution, of course, is to embark on a permanent, perpetual campaign of “reform” or “relief” that might somewhat alleviate the problems inherent in the system, but never amounts to any significant change in the power structure, and therefore, doesn’t actually fix the problem.

The whole point is not change, but an illusion of change. This is why any institution that deals with a problem will never end that problem, else they lose their reason to exist. Hospitals don’t want to end disease, because they profit from disease. Food banks and soup kitchens don’t want to end hunger, because they profit from hunger. The military industrial complex, despite propaganda claiming that they will secure “peace through superior firepower”, doesn’t want to end war, because they profit from war. Social media companies, despite claiming that they help “connect people around the world”, don’t want to end loneliness, because they profit from loneliness. Environmentalist groups don’t want to end climate change, because they profit from climate change and all the donations that come pouring in from gullible suckers. The police don’t want to end crime, because they profit from crime in the form of panicked taxpayer money after some politician fearmongers their way to victory on a “law and order” campaign.

Sometimes they even go out of their way to perpetuate the problem, like the FBI secretly pushing people with mental health issues or people suffering from loneliness to plan/commit terrorist attacks or mass shootings so they can arrest them to generate artificial support for law enforcement and brag about how “effective” they are at stopping “terrorist plots”. Just like the philanthropists, they’re all happy to pretend that they’re fixing problems because that puts people’s questions to rest so they can keep exploiting the problem and rolling in the dough.

Philanthropy as a Long-Term Strategy for the Survival of Exploitative Power Structures

In fact, these campaigns of “reform” may even give the institutions a cover for improving and refining their methods of exploitation and misdirection in service of the power structure. Foucault in his 1975 book Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison writes that “prison reform” is one such program of “reform” that blows a lot of hot smoke about how much good it’s doing by adopting more “humane” methods, but doesn’t actually change anything about the fundamental nature of the prison as a tool of oppression. If anything, these “reforms”, which have been constantly ongoing ever since the conception of the prison, are trying to make the prison a more efficient institution that can more effectively serve power. About prison revolts that took place several years before he wrote this book, he writes; “They were revolts against an entire state of physical misery that is over a century old: against cold, suffocation and overcrowding, against decrepit walls, hunger, physical maltreatment. But they were also revolts against model prisons, tranquilizers, isolation, the medical and educational services.” (30)

The kind of false generosity being practiced by philanthropists around the world is exactly the same as the kind of false generosity practiced by prison reformers, who are willing to make the prison “softer” and more “humane” so they can pacify and control the prisoners better, but never actually resolve the problem of the prison itself being a tool of oppression because it would require that the prison, which is the prison reformer’s sole reason for existing, ceases to exist.

The same can be said of all philanthropists, who are willing to alleviate some of the inherent problems of the unjust social order so they can use those alleviation efforts as an opportunity to justify and perpetuate the unjust social order, but never actually resolve the inherent problems of the unjust social order because it would require that the unjust social order the philanthropists profit from ceases to exist. The only difference seems to be that the philanthropists have had far greater success than the prison reformers in fooling people into thinking that their watered down, Diet Coke, fake “change” is “real change”.

Summary of the Power-Functions of Philanthropy

In conclusion, MrBeast and all the other philanthropists like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos use philanthropy and false generosity to dehumanize and disempower ordinary people while reinforcing the power of money and the agency of capitalists; keep people down in a position of financial, material, and emotional dependence; trap people in a false sense of hope and pacify any who get too uppity; justify, protect, uphold, and perpetuate the exploitative, dehumanizing power structure of our society; shield themselves and the status quo from criticism; lull people into a false sense of security by throwing them crumbs that are treated as if they were whole loaves of bread; pervert societal ideas of generosity to be false generosity that does not threaten the power structure, rather than true generosity which does pose a threat to the power structure; distract from root causes of problems embedded in the social order by making a big show of partially alleviating some of those problems on the surface, leaving the root causes untouched; snuff out calls for change by making it seem like they are working towards meaningful change even though it’s all just a fucking illusion; shape the future generation’s image of humanity to favor the continuation of the capitalist system; and ultimately, MAKE MORE MONEY and SECURE THEIR POWER.

Philanthropy, Influencers, & Capitalism

I am not content to rest with Marx’s lazy assumption that “capitalism sows the seeds of its own destruction”. A monster it may be, but capitalism is smart enough to constantly self-adjust, adapt, reform, relieve, and alleviate to prevent its own destruction.

When looking at MrBeast’s self-perpetuating brand of for-profit internet influencer philanthropy, which gives away money and publicizes it in order to make that money back multiple times over through ad revenue, one may be tempted to conclude that this is a Ponzi scheme that will inevitably collapse on its own, and therefore can be safely dismissed as a harmless novelty. But keep in mind that this kind of internet philanthropy is relatively very young in comparison to the whole field of philanthropy which goes back to the oil barons of the Gilded Age and beyond, so it is to be expected that MrBeast’s internet philanthropy is crude, shameless, and unrefined as it adapts to its new environment and pioneers new techniques of power and misdirection for future use.

The Capitalistization of Influencers

There’s also the fact that MrBeast, at 26 years old, is very young and has a lot of time to refine his methods, assuming he wants to keep doing this until his 60s; he definitely already has enough money to retire and live a luxurious life, and yet he’s still going, likely inflicted with what Weber, in his 1905 book “The Protestant Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism”, would call the “spirit of capitalism… which, in the pursuit of a calling, strives systematically for profit for its own sake.” (19)

I would say that the reason why MrBeast could make so much money so quickly is because he is the embodiment of the transformation of the Youtuber from what Weber would probably call a more “traditionalist”, “easygoing” job where people made videos primarily for fun, with money as a secondary objective or not at all, to a rigorously capitalistic job where people make videos primarily to make money, with fun as a secondary objective or not at all… This extraordinary transformation is likely mirrored in all kinds of internet influencers since the rest of the internet has become so corporatized, monetized, and commodified.

The Rise of the Capitalist Philanthropic Influencer

With the idea of the influencer already so closely tied to capitalism, my guess is that it will only be a matter of time until this kind of for-profit internet influencer philanthropy, and internet influencers in general, become institutionalized and absorbed into the larger structure of power.

The alliance between internet influencers and traditional capitalist power is inevitable, because internet influencers already serve capitalist power as local allies in cyberspace. You can already see this happening; for example, MrBeast partnering with Netflix, whose stocks are traded on Wall Street, to produce his Beast Games show. The richest of influencers are even already dabbling in capitalist pursuits, like Logan Paul (may he burn in hell), MrBeast, KSI, and a bunch more big-name assholes whose names are best forgotten to time, peddling poison to children disguised as energy drinks, chocolate bars, and school lunches. So they’ll fit right in wearing fancy suits and watches alongside the Monopoly Men who control medicine, electronics, food, machinery, construction, etc!

Over the next century, we will see these influencers increasingly integrated into what it means to be a “capitalist”. The growing success of MrBeast (and his copycats) and the sudden flipping of the philanthropy equation means that it is not just a sink for the capitalist class’s money anymore as it had been for centuries, but a whole new sector of the economy to exploit for those willing to play court jester.

This will establish a new role of power to play - that of the self-funding, people-pacifying philanthropic influencer that reaches audiences the stuffy, traditional capitalist can’t with their old-school foundations. And as time goes on, we will likely see more petty MrBeast copycats jump at the opportunity to fulfil this role because it pays well. The brutal, competitive nature of Youtube and the attention economy being as it is, most will fail, but some will strike it rich and become just as prominent, if not more prominent, than MrBeast.

As the final step of this institutionalization, MrBeast will probably open up his own foundation someday (if he hasn’t already) like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. Even if he is destroyed by drama and his channel falls from grace, it will only open up the opportunity for one of his many copycats to take his place.

Conclusion: Resisting the Influence of the Capitalist Philanthropic Influencer

Of course, I have hope that we can resist all forms of false generosity and instead fight for true generosity as Freire described it. Seeing through the traps of false generosity and philanthropy is as easy as knowing what tricks the philanthropists use to deceive the people. Like a bear trap, it’s very easy to avoid stepping on it once you know it’s there. Even if in the future a thousand MrBeasts pop up, as long as you know how to resist the influence of one, you can resist the influence of them all! In fact, if you’ve read everything all the way through here, you’re probably already at least halfway there.

The last piece of advice I would give you is to unplug yourself from social media and the attention economy, which is where parasites and propagandists like MrBeast make their money turning you into an unthinking zombie, defending the status quo, and fooling you into taking the structure of power for granted. If you find yourself doomscrolling at 2 am, stop right fucking now. Do not let the algorithms, who are controlled by power, shove trash into your head.

Don’t completely disengage from the internet of course; what I’m saying is that you should use the internet on YOUR own terms, instead of letting the internet use you. Turn off repeating notifications. Recognize that FOMO or “the fear of missing out” which compels people to constantly check social media feeds is a tool of power that must be resisted at all costs. Don’t blindly idolize celebrities or influencers, or form parasocial relationships with them and make yourself emotionally dependent on them, but make REAL relationships with REAL people as equals. Find and explore what YOU want instead of what the fucking recommendations or suggestions or whatever else the algorithms call “things to show people” try to shove down your throat. Build the mental fortitude to refuse clicking or tapping on clickbaity algorithmic bullshit. Download free books and read them at your leisure, instead of being hurried along by the blazing speed of social media. Watch documentaries that respect your time and attention, instead of being lured into watching pointless, meaningless, hollow slop that just wants to waste your time so the creators can make money off your attention.

When you aren’t caught up compulsively watching every single headline and every single little post, it gives you the opportunity to step back, think, doubt, question, critique, consider, look at the big picture, and make connections between things you would never have thought were connected, like I’m doing in this essay. It’s refreshing. It’s liberating. And most importantly, NEVER be afraid to call people out on their bullshit.

Author’s Note: This essay was written in December 2024.

2025 Addendum

I recommend to all readers the 2018 book “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World” by Anand Giridharadas. I haven’t finished reading it but it’s about the same topic of philanthropy and false generosity really being a tool used by elites to justify the continued exploitation of the people both to themselves and to the people.

As for MrBeast himself, I haven’t really been paying too close attention to him, except that he’s still doing the same shit he’s been doing for years. And it’s only been a few months since I wrote this essay. So maybe I’ll come back in a year or two and see how things are going, then make some more comments and observations.

But I will say this. It is clear that the heart of MrBeast - not just the man, but the company too - is corrupt from top to bottom. Their business is corrupt, their ideology is corrupt, their intentions are corrupt, their actions are corrupt, their methods are corrupt, and they play a corrupt role in society. I would not be surprised if scandals broke out again in the future, no matter how much they try to clean up their act (or more likely, tighten security and hire more unscrupulous, heartless lawyers for threatening critics and whistleblowers into silence and submission). Perhaps someday this rotten social media empire built on lies, corruption, and exploitation may collapse altogether, when enough people see through his bullshit and boycott him.

A topic of interest might be what happens to MrBeast after the man himself dies or retires. Will he finally give everything away like he promised? Or will he hoard the money into a trust fund for him and his family alone? Will someone else take up the mantle as the top capitalist philanthropic influencer who’s Youtube’s golden boy? If so, who? A family member? One of the Youtubers that MrBeast has groomed as a protege? Or perhaps one of his ambitious right hand men? Who knows?

Also check out this video: “The Problem with MrBeast” by Then and Now (April 4, 2022) It’s the perfect companion piece to this essay. Truthfully, I had never even watched this video when I wrote this essay, instead relying on my own intuition and reasoning. I knew something was wrong with that guy and his creepy soulless smile and the way he does things and I wrote this essay to try to figure out what it was. It’s striking that it’s been 2-3 years and the points the video makes (many of which are similar to the points I make here) are still pretty much relevant to this day.

References

Arendt, Hannah. 1951. “The Origins of Totalitarianism.”

DuBois, WEB. 1920. “Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil.”

Foucault, Michel. 1975. “Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison.”

Freire, Paulo. 1970. “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.”

Weber, Max. 1905. “The Protestant Ethic and the "Spirit" of Capitalism.”