Current Events > MrBeast gets criticism for building wells in Africa

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https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/06/africa/mrbeast-100-wells-africa-intl-scli/index.html

American YouTuber MrBeasts latest video, in which he says he built 100 wells across Africa, has drawn a complex response online since it was published on Saturday.

Some Kenyan activists and journalists said he has spotlighted the failures of the Kenyan government, while MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, anticipates that he will be canceled following the reaction.

Prominent activist Boniface Mwangi contrasted Donaldsons actions with those of the Kenyan government, saying that we are a shameful, horrible countrya begging nation governed by millionaires.

And then, she added, overnight, this person comes along, who happens to be a white male figure with a huge platform, and all of a sudden, he gets all of the attention. Its kind of frustrating, but its also understanding the nature of how the world is.

While much of the reaction to Donaldsons video seemed to focus on how it shamed the Kenyan government, its creator anticipated a backlash, saying on X that he knows Im gonna get canceled because I uploaded a video helping people, and to be 100% clear, I dont care.

Honestly, fuck him. After he randomly gave a house to a trick or treater, when he could have made sure it we t to a homeless person. I am getting the impression he is not actually a good person. He just likes looking like a good person

I do good deeds with selfish intentions.

I love that the criticism is he's exposing failures of a flawed government. That would only make people like him more.

Whining about being "cancelled" when all you are getting is some criticism from a small number of people is getting tiresome.

Ah exposing the governments flaws is a bad thing.

So.... we're mad at people for doing nice things, but not doing nice things in a very narrow and specific way now?

And, for the record, I've never even seen a clip of his. Just one of those celebrities I'm aware of based on other people talking about them.

Sounds more like a criticism of the government than of Mr Beast.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

He educated homeless people about why their favorite movie actually sucks

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Well it's been a while, but I have given money to beggars in the past. I think it's a valid criticism of Beast, to point out what he could have done instead of relying on random chance. And no homeless people go trick or treating, so they were never going to win the house

I also helped my parents drop off diapers to a charity the other day

K181 posted...

So.... we're mad at people for doing nice things, but not doing nice things in a very narrow and specific way now?

And, for the record, I've never even seen a clip of his. Just one of those celebrities I'm aware of based on other people talking about them.

Go watch The Good Place

He should not have spent anything and kept all of the money for himself!

The one thing I haven't seen people touch on which I think is a bigger deal is that just building wells doesn't mean he's helping. Are we certain the places where he's building wells were having water issues in the first place?

aarrgus posted...

Whining about being "cancelled" when all you are getting is some criticism from a small number of people is getting tiresome.

this. Most people dont give a shit, and you can bet your ass that no matter what anyone does, if its done publicly, someone will have a problem with it. So just ignore and move on.

Axiom posted...

Go watch The Good Place

Which doesn't answer the question.

Ignoring the fact that The Good Place just completely dismisses utilitarian ethics for completely arbitrary reasons, there is no evidence that Mr Beast's humanitarian work is coming from a place of egocentrism.

He's a content creator, not an oil tycoon. The money that makes these humanitarian stunts possible is driven by the content he creates. It's not some insidious ego trip to feature these stunts in videos in an effort to help fund the next one.

Blue_Target posted...

He should not have spent anything and kept all of the money for himself!

What he should do is do good deeds without needing to make them into gimmicks and videos designed to go viral for his own benefit

Zikten posted...

What he should do is do good deeds without needing to make them into gimmicks and videos designed to go viral for his own benefit

But thats how he makes money to do good deeds

if he doesnt make the video, he doesnt make the money, he cant do the good deed

how do you propose he does the good deed if he doesnt make the video?

Zikten posted...

Well it's been a while, but I have given money to beggars in the past. I think it's a valid criticism of Beast, to point out what he could have done instead of relying on random chance. And no homeless people go trick or treating, so they were never going to win the house

Zikten posted...

I also helped my parents drop off diapers to a charity the other day

lol

Zikten posted...

What he should do is do good deeds without needing to make them into gimmicks and videos designed to go viral for his own benefit

Without the videos, he doesn't make money. Without the money, he can't donate. This is coming from a person who has never seen a single video of his though.

Zikten posted...

What he should do is do good deeds without needing to make them into gimmicks and videos designed to go viral for his own benefit

Maybe the last part of your post is fair to say but using his platform to show what sort of wrong is being righted still shines a light on something deserving of attention. Who knows, maybe it might inspire some kind of financial upswing from others who want to contribute.

Dang some people really hate Africans

Why is it a bad thing for rich people to do good things just to make themselves look better? Do you think the 750 towns that still have Carnegie libraries really care about his potential reasons for doing so?

I'd much rather the super rich do that than horde their money or burn it on utter vanity projects.

Zikten posted...

What he should do is do good deeds without needing to make them into gimmicks and videos designed to go viral for his own benefit

Doesn't he need the publicity to pay for the good deeds?

K181 posted...

Why is it a bad thing for rich people to do good things just to make themselves look better? Do you think the 750 towns that still have Carnegie libraries really care about his potential reasons for doing so?

Because it's seen as "you wouldn't have acted if you didn't see an opportunity." So people then point to other impoverished communities saying they could use some support but the guy at the top won't do anything because there isn't enough publicity in helping.

K181 posted...

Why is it a bad thing for rich people to do good things just to make themselves look better? Do you think the 750 towns that still have Carnegie libraries really care about his potential reasons for doing so?

I'd much rather the super rich do that than horde their money or burn it on utter vanity projects.

Because hes not humble about it!!!
-Zikten

if all good deeds were anonymous, there would be no good deeds left in the world

Tmaster148 posted...

The one thing I haven't seen people touch on which I think is a bigger deal is that just building wells doesn't mean he's helping. Are we certain the places where he's building wells were having water issues in the first place?

So you are saying he dug 500 random wells randomly and that makes the government look bad?

Zikten posted...

Honestly, fuck him. After he randomly gave a house to a trick or treater, when he could have made sure it we t to a homeless person. I am getting the impression he is not actually a good person. He just likes looking like a good person

Careful, the CE hivemind will hate you for thinking critically

i guess when you're rich and white you don't need to care about governments, cultures, and how social commentary can affect anything. and you don't really to care about how any of this affects future lives as long as you're getting clicks today!

Trumpo posted...

Careful, the CE hivemind will hate you for thinking critically

Only someone who had their shit kicked in because they ran their mouth would say that.

Solid_Sonic posted...

Because it's seen as "you wouldn't have acted if you didn't see an opportunity." So people then point to other impoverished communities saying they could use some support but the guy at the top won't do anything because there isn't enough publicity in helping.

This bullshit confuses me.
"He helped some people? Well he didn't help everyone on the planet!"

Trumpo posted...

Careful, the CE hivemind will hate you for thinking critically

Been waiting for you to show up

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Did he give the homeless person the money to pay the taxes on the house, or was this another Oprah moment?

Trumpo posted...

Careful, the CE hivemind will hate you for thinking critically

That isn't thinking critically, thats not using his brain period.

havean776 posted...

This bullshit confuses me.
"He helped some people? Well he didn't help everyone on the planet!"

Ain't my stance, I'm just guessing at what makes such responses tick. I'm with you.

havean776 posted...

Because hes not humble about it!!!
-Zikten

Which, ironically, he actually seems to be.

He's not going around talking about how great he is for doing these things. He doesn't brag about it, at least from what I've seen. Seems the only evidence he's not humble is the fact that he's rich and the videos get a lot of views. Funny, that.

DarkBuster22904 posted...

Which doesn't answer the question.

Ignoring the fact that The Good Place just completely dismisses utilitarian ethics for com0letely arbitrary reasons, there is no evidence that Mr Beast's humanitarian work is coming from a place of egocentrism.

He's a content creator, not an oil tycoon. The money that makes these humanitarian stunts possible is driven by the content he creates. It's not some insidious ego trip to feature these stunts in videos in an effort to help fund the next one.

Yeah, I'm not sure what the point of bringing that up was.

The Good Place stating actually no one in the modern era is good because doing something as innocuous as buying flowers is a net negative since those flowers could have been harvested through exploited labor, harmful pesticides, and other factors that are beyond the person's control.

Is that somehow comparable to MrBeast?

LightHawKnight posted...

So you are saying he dug 500 random wells randomly and that makes the government look bad?

It's possible that despite good intentions he built wells in areas that didn't need wells built. It's also possible these wells don't really solve the problem either.

I see no one talking about whether or not the wells built are actually solving a problem when it comes to discourse around this video and I wouldn't put it past any content creator doing good deeds for content to being do so from an optics stand point and not a functional one.

Eab1990 posted...

Yeah, I'm not sure what the point of bringing that up was.

The Good Place stating actually no one in the modern era is good because doing something as innocuous as buying flowers is a net negative since those flowers could have been harvested through exploited labor, harmful pesticides, and other factors that are beyond the person's control.

Is that somehow comparable to MrBeast?

I believe he was talking about the "Tahani Problem:"

"I never actually cared about the people I was helping. I was just trying to be popular and stick it to my sister."

so like some people need more help than others?
like what is the order?

should he not help other ppl until he helps ppl at the bottom?

This is seeming like the epitome of letting perfection be the enemy of good...

Tmaster148 posted...

It's possible that despite good intentions he built wells in areas that didn't need wells built. It's also possible these wells don't really solve the problem either.

I see no one talking about whether or not the wells built are actually solving a problem when it comes to discourse around this video and I wouldn't put it past any content creator doing good deeds for content to being do so from an optics stand point and not a functional one.

You don't see anybody talking about it because there's no evidence that this is what happened.

Saying "it's possible these wells didn't solve any problems" is criticizing him for an imagined outcome for the sake of inventing a scenario where it's OK to say he did wrong.

Those people are not serious people. Ask the one's that actually got water and see how they feel.

I bet they don't give a fuck. And if the Kenyan government didn't want to be embarrassed, then they could have done this at any time.

DarkBuster22904 posted...

You don't see anybody talking about it because there's no evidence that this is what happened.

Saying "it's possible these wells didn't solve any problems" is criticizing him for an imagined outcome for the sake of inventing a scenario where it's OK to say he did wrong.

Well if you personally know the data on the well being built in areas of Africa that were in desperate need of a well built and that it solved the water issues in those areas, you could share it.

But as far as I'm concerned, wealthy individuals are often not great at fixing actual needs and many times the optics of solving a "problem" overshadow the fact that nothing was actually fixed.

Tmaster148 posted...

Well if you personally know the data on the well being built in areas of Africa that were in desperate need of a well built and that it solved the water issues in those areas, you could share it.

But as far as I'm concerned, wealthy individuals are often not great at fixing actual needs and many times the optics of solving a "problem" overshadow the fact that nothing was actually fixed.

I dont need to know the data.

YOU'RE the one levying the criticism. So where's the proof that this is what happened? Because "I don't trust rich people to do things right" ain't it. The onis is on YOU to prove this scenario that YOU invented is more than just a random imagining.

You invented a scenario to criticize him for, with no backing evidence, and justified it with am emotional bias. Amd then asked why nobody else is talking about it.

Solid_Sonic posted...

Because it's seen as "you wouldn't have acted if you didn't see an opportunity." So people then point to other impoverished communities saying they could use some support but the guy at the top won't do anything because there isn't enough publicity in helping.

There are always going to be communities that need help, diseases that need to be cured, endangered species that need to be saved, social causes that need to be advanced, etc., etc. Even the richest asshole on the planet couldn't help solve everything. Some random jagoff Youtuber helping others isn't bad even if they're annoying about it merely because others are as bad or worse off.

Tmaster148 posted...

Well if you personally know the data on the well being built in areas of Africa that were in desperate need of a well built and that it solved the water issues in those areas, you could share it.

But as far as I'm concerned, wealthy individuals are often not great at fixing actual needs and many times the optics of solving a "problem" overshadow the fact that nothing was actually fixed.

Do you have even a sliver of data for what youre suggesting? Youd think that if he built 100 wells in places that werent needed, hed be getting criticized for that and not for.. making the government look bad

youre just making shit up