The outrage industry is a lucrative business.
You
can launch a career as an activist by expressing outrage on social media.
You
don’t have to step out of the house like in the old days and engage in staged
protests or tokenism by posing with the 'persecuted'.
Social
media posts will do it.
All
you need is the right hashtags such as #BLM and flags such as the Rainbow LGBT+
flag and perhaps the Ukraine flag. You must assiduously follow groupthink. A
photo of George Floyd is mandatory.
If
nothing works you can resort to expletives to gain attention. If
questioned you can claim that the circumstances of <any persecuted group is
so outrageous that polite words are not sufficient
The
con works.
You
could become a social media influencer and maybe there will be opportunities
beyond social media
Rep
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Climate Activist Greta Thunberg, are a few
examples of how it can become a lucrative career.
Now
for YouTube sensation MrBeast whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson and who
is the highest-earning creator on Youtube with a record-breaking 136 million
subscribers.
MrBeast
is an anomaly to the trend of the self-centered social media influencer.
His
repertoire includes videos about planting trees, or cleaning the world’s
dirtiest beaches, there are adventures and social experiments. But most
importantly he uses his reach to perform acts of charity. All of it is
presented in good humor. Most of his videos receive more than 100 million
views.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPJKxAhLw5I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV2gBU6hKfY
But
the outrage brigade is now targeting MrBeast.
What
did he do?
Did
he say something racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, or
Islamophobic?
Did
he attack a person from a minority group?
Did
he say something vile?
To
quote British prime minister Margaret Thatcher– “No, No, No”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjxz2WGl6KA
Those
targeting him accused him of ableism, which is defined as discrimination in
favor of able-bodied people.
Did
MrBeast mock or attack the disabled?
Did
he discriminate against the disabled?
No,
again!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2m5yU2oCsY
All
he did was posted a video where he revealed he helped treat 1,000 people
including young children with blindness and low vision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ2ifmkGGus
You
would think the one helping others overcome a disability would be lauded by all?
But
he is being slammed?
On
social media, it branded it charity porn.
https://twitter.com/TheArtOfAsty/status/1620489613222760448
It
was called demonic.
https://twitter.com/LolOverruled/status/1619538554555895808
It
was also called exploitative and slammed MrBeast overall.
https://twitter.com/DeliciousBoogs/status/1620554357946339329
Buzzfeed‘s
Kelsey Weekman said there was a “huge problem” with the video because
“it seems to regard disability as something that needs to be solved.”
USA Today’s Jenna
Ryu branded it as ‘performative altruism’
The
Daily Caller writer Julian Adorney refers to Is Everyone Really Equal? written
by Robin DiAngelo (of White Fragility fame) and Özlem
Sensoy. The authors refer to a
hypothetical doctor who asks a disabled person “We have the technology, why
suffer unnecessarily? This question is branded as ableists for attempting to
erase the humanity of the individual by endeavoring to cure their
disability."
Steve Aquino who has multiple disabilities writes
that “the biggest problem with wanting to “cure” blindness is that it
reinforces a moral superiority of sorts by those without disabilities over
those who are disabled.”
Aquino
slammed MrBeast’s video as “systemic ableism on display” implying that
“disabilities should be eradicated — cured.”
Aquino
also called inspiration porn, “meant to portray abled people as the
selfless heroes waging war against the diabolical villain known as a
disability.”
How
Aquino inferred this from an act of generosity is impossible to know. Aquino’s
perspective probably says more about him than MrBeast.
Aquino
also claims that his disability is part of his identity and that he wouldn’t
want to change it and the disabled need people who see them as real people.
In
the interest of empathy, Aquino must respect those who want to fix their
disability.
What
is more amazing is that this obviously perverse viewpoint found a publisher.
https://twitter.com/steven_aquino/status/1619730809182916608
Alas,
these are not just a few trolls targeting a YouTuber.
When Democrat
Senate Candidate John Fetterman suffered
a stroke it caused mental and physical disabilities. Those who talked
about Fetterman’s disabilities were slammed as ableist
Fetterman
won the Senate elections last November. Just weeks after being sworn in he
was hospitalized.
Fetterman recently checked himself into the hospital for “clinical
depression” The man is unfit for the job yet information voters were denied key
information.
The
same can be said about Joe Biden’s obvious disabilities that were suppressed during
the 2020 Presidential elections.
So
let’s take a billion steps back from this insanity and state the obvious.
All
people with disabilities deserve to be treated with respect. People with permanent
disabilities deserve empathy and not pity.
Disabled
persons must never be discriminated against in any way. However, if the nature
of their disability prevents them from participating in certain activities it
isn’t discrimination.
For
instance, wheelchair-bound individuals will not qualify to participate in a
100m sprint at the Olympics, nor will most able-bodied individuals. This isn’t
an act of discrimination but the nature of the contest.
However,
if a wheelchair-bound individual who is good at chess is prevented from
participating in a chess championship because of his physical disability, it is
discrimination.
Yes,
a disability becomes part of one’s identity because it alters the life
experience.
But
every shortcoming must be normalized by calling it an identity. Else there will
be a day when people identify as lazy and refuse to report to work and will demand
to be paid.
However,
if a surgical process or medication or a new invention can help cure or
overcome a disability and the individual desires that cure, there is absolutely
nothing wrong.
Now
for the most obvious of obvious facts.
Wanting
to help people overcome a disability is an act of kindness and not a demonization
of their disability.
Back
to MrBeast who has given away millions of dollars to charity since becoming a
sensation in 2017.
MrBeast’s business
model works as follows.
He
makes videos of charitable endeavors which helps him to reap profits via views
on his content. A portion of this profit is once again used for charity which
becomes his content. The cycle continues. This is commendable
MrBeast
via his videos is also promoting the spirit of charity. Since most content
consumers on YouTube are young people, MrBeast once again must be lauded, even
if a small percentage of his viewers emulate him in a small way, it is a huge
achievement.
MrBeast
isn’t exploiting the less fortunate but helping them. All of the videos he
makes are obvious after consent and so are the procedures he pays for.
The
video on the question that generated controversy is particularly uplifting. It
has patients and caretakers overjoyed after overcoming a disability.
Once
upon a time MrBeast would have been universally celebrated.
But
we live in times of absolute insanity
MrBeast
reacted to the controversy as follows
https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1620062824776216577
https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1620195967008907264
Also appears on American Thinker
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