OPINION | DIGITAL LIFE
MrBeast: Philanthropist or Secret Sadist?
MrBeast’s YouTube stunts continue blurring the line between philanthropy and psychological torture
The economic disparities of our modern age have given rise to a host of issues, but among the most unusual of all is the growing ubiquity and relatability of Squid Game and other various game shows — in which contestants are enthusiastic to swap certain dignities in exchange for cash.
Next to Elon Musk, there’s likely no man more emblematic of our crushing inequalities, or of the internet age itself, than MrBeast. As the proud owner of the most subscribed YouTube account in history, boasting a whopping 219 million subscribers — more than two-thirds the population of the United States — the figures MrBeast commands are simply staggering.
I remember being a child and reloading the page in repeated succession as the first video ticked its way into 7-digit territory with a whopping million views; I remember watching another youtuber, the famously high-voiced Fred, become the first to pass over the same benchmark with his jaw-dropping one million follower achievement.
It’s hard to believe we’ve so quickly reached the days of a billion-view videos and subscriber counts more than…
