Why MrBeast curing 1000 people's blindness should infuriate America

MrBeast’s new video has been infuriating his viewers, for all the right reasons.

The hugely popular YouTuber has been changing perceptions with his latest video, which sees him pay for cataract removal for 1,000 people who could not afford surgery to cure their sight problems.

MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, highlights how out of reach routine operations are with the video, titled “1,000 blind people see for the first time”.

He teams up with ophthalmologist and surgeon Jeff Levenson in the clip, and discusses his work with the Gift of Sight program in Jacksonville, Florida.

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They help to provide people with free cataract surgery – an operation which can cost thousands through private healthcare.

1,000 Blind People See For The First Timewww.youtube.com

It’s racked up 58 million views since being posted over the weekend and it’s attracted the attention of some of the biggest names online.

One of the biggest political commentators on Twitch, HasanAbi aka Hasan Piker, has posted a video reacting to the clip – and he’s made it clear how angry it’s made him.

Not because of the actions of MrBeast, but because of just how inaccessible the surgery is for so many who need it most.

"You watch this video, you go, 'Aw, how cute and how nice.' I watch this video and I am filled with rage,” he said in a recent stream.

He added: "That we shut off access to a 10-minute procedure because we paywalled it and decided that some people just simply can't get it.

"It is so insanely frustrating, that it is like, it's up to one YouTube guy who decided to make content out of like, people who are too poor can't just f***ing see. That's insane, anyway sorry. That's just a deeply, deeply frustrating concept."

He’s right to be angry.

Leveson explains in the original clip just how quickly the life changing procedure can take place, saying: “Half of all blindness in the world is people who need a 10-minute surgery.”

Taking to Twitter, MrBeast shared his own thoughts and called for an end to preventable blindness, writing: “I don’t understand why curable blindness is a thing. Why don’t governments step in and help?

“Even if you’re thinking purely from a financial standpoint it’s hard to see how they don’t roi on taxes from people being able to work again.”

For viewers in the UK, this might be a slightly difficult idea for us to get our head around. After all, things are very different here and according to the NHS website, “surgery is usually offered on the NHS if your cataracts are affecting your eyesight and quality of life.”

Tentative steps are being taken by president Joe Biden to make it easier for US citizens to pay for healthcare, with the climate, tax and healthcare bill setting aside $70 billion over the next three years to keep out-of-pocket premium costs low for roughly 13 million people back in August.

But as MrBeast has stated both in the clip and on social media, too many people are still not getting the essential surgery they need because they simply can’t afford it. As MyVision.org states, cataract surgery costs on average $3,500 per eye and can reach as high as $7,000 per eye in the US.

US citizens being priced out of essential medical care is, sadly, nothing new, but the video seems to have struck a chord among Americans.

The latest video has been opening people's eyes in the USMrBeast/YouTube

Social media users reacting to Piker’s take on the video, many users felt the same way.

“A 10 minute surgery to cure “half of the people with blindness”, that fact blows my f***ing mind,” Twitch user Noko wrote.

Another wrote: “He's not wrong. Everyone should have the right to vision. Mr. Beast remains a hero for doing what we should have already been doing.”

“bro lowkey right Mrbeast out here doing the [government's] job,” another added.

“What Mr. Beast did is amazing but it's downright depressing that our own healthcare system fails us this much,” a user commented.

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