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Comment by _zoltan_ | Hacker News Reader

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So if you donate money to charity then you get a pass on obeying the law and general morals? Is this like indulgences from the Pope? How much does a murder cost?

Well, yes, actually. That does seem to be the way of the world. Look how many 1%ers only make donations based on PR recommendations to keep their image in good standing. Funny you made a Pope joke, but it is common for people attending the Church to pay donations for absolution. As for your murder cost question, I guess that depends on which ad in the back of Soldier of Fortune you replied.

> but it is common for people attending the Church to pay donations for absolution

This is not at all common and hasn't been for a few hundred years.

(That said, your point about wealthy people making big donations as a PR move is definitely as prevalent as it ever was)

If I go out and randomly punch someone in the face but buy a homeless person dinner, hey, I did something good, but maybe I still shouldn't have done the former.

Yea but he’s not exactly going around randomly punching people in the face is he? Lot of moral grandstanding in this thread.

He’s a human being and he’s not perfect but some of these comments calling him a psychopath or sycophant are going way too far. My psychoanalysis of everyone psychoanalyzing Mr Beast would be to turn the screen off and get some fresh air

Actions have a statistical inevitability to them. I don't think it's much different than going out and randomly punching people in the face.

When you have a lot of money and influence, and you have a choice between two policies: policy A which will statistically harm 1,000 people, and policy B which will statistically harm 1,500 people, it is no different, to me, than going around randomly punching 500 people you never had to.

For some reason people give these choices a pass. I don't.

I might give Mr. Beast a bit of a pass because there might be some ignorance involved. But for most people making these decisions, that live within large corporations, I don't, because they know better, they just don't care.

> Yea but he’s not exactly going around randomly punching people in the face is he?

I mean, not directly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MrBeast

"In September 2024, Donaldson was one of the subjects of a class action lawsuit that alleged widespread mistreatment, sexual harassment, and unpaid expenses and wages on his ongoing reality television series."

He gained money for those good things through fraud

https://youtu.be/k5xf40KrK3I

In a Mister Burns sorta way, I guess

That giant disc to block out the sun to increase power consumption was pretty genius though

Falling for PR and advertising is a moral failing by which you are not even bothering to consider the reality of the situation.

That is just effective altruism by another name.

Not really, no. There is extensive documentation showing his charity is way less than it appears to be, and selling overpriced unhealthy garbage to children negates what little goodwill he may have gained through it, in my book.

So?

No. He has no compassion nor authenticity for what he does.

He's been doing it to paint an image to mask what's goes on behind the screen. He's a narcissistic psychopathic arsehole.

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