Draft:1,000 Blind People See For The First Time

"1,000 Blind People See For The First Time" is a 2023 YouTube video uploaded by American YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, better known online as MrBeast. Published on January 28, 2023, the video shows Donaldson funding cataract surgeries for 1,000 people, who required them but could not afford them on their own.

Nonprofit organizations praised Donaldson for his philanthropy, whilst others critiqued the American healthcare system for refusing to provide universal healthcare. Others criticized Donaldson himself, labeling him as "demonic" and the video as "charity porn".

Video
"1,000 Blind People See For The First Time" centers around Donaldson paying for cataract surgeries to be operated on people who required them, but otherwise would not have been able to afford it. Donaldson also occasionally surprised patients with additional prizes, such as a suitcase filled with $10,000, or a brand new Tesla car. He also gave one high school student featured in the video a $50,000 donation for his college fund and Levenson was given a $100,000 donation to his clinic in order to perform more cataract surgeries.

Reception
Twitter - Rich people should help others with their money Me - Okay, I’ll use my money to help people and I promise to give away all my money before I die. Every single penny. Twitter - MrBeast bad Jan 30, 2023

The video was posted to the MrBeast YouTube channel on January 28, 2023. The video was well-received amongst Donaldson's fanbase. Within 24 hours of the video's release, it had reached over 32 million views. The video later reached 100 million views in less than two weeks.

Fans of Donaldson and some nonprofit organizations specializing in blindness praised Donaldson for the video. President of the National Federation of the Blind of the UK Andrew Hodgson reacted positively towards the video, saying that anything that provides attention and funding for people in need of cataract surgeries "should be welcomed," and questioned why people were critiquing Donaldson. Max Read of The New York Times described the video as "sappy, earnest and professionally efficient."

A number of journalists and commentators criticized the American healthcare system, questioning the inaccessibility of cataract surgery and why it took a wealthy individual to make change. Others though were critical of Donaldson himself, accusing him of using disabled and low-income people for profit, labeling the video as "charity porn", with others calling him "demonic". Ryan Coogan of The Independent said that criticism should be directed towards the American healthcare system rather than Donaldson. Levi Winslow of Kotaku said that the video was "an indictment of our failing, ultra-capitalist healthcare system." Roshan Abraham of Vice shared similar viewpoints, calling the video "slightly dystopian."

In response to negative feedback, Donaldson posted on Twitter, where he appeared to express frustration that his efforts were not appreciated enough by those on Twitter. In another post earlier that day, he critiqued the American government for not providing universal healthcare.