Do you ever feel that just about every experience in life now caters to upper-middle-class and rich people? Sure, everyone is feeling the brunt of inflation, but something else happened along the way.
For example, over the past 20 years:
The price of going to a concert has quadrupled.
A one-day admission ticket to Disneyland has gone up around three times.
The cost of the average American home has gone up around two-and-a-half times.
Pleasures that were affordable to everyone suddenly had to become luxury experiences. Face-value tickets went by the wayside in favor of having to buy things on the secondary market. Simple things that blue-collar people enjoyed have been gentrified by upper-class people who thought they were cool and “authentic.”
It seems impossible for the average person to get a good deal in life, and if they do, someone will figure out how to make rich people want it and sell it for double the cost.
A fed-up person on Reddit named r/degreeofvariation, asked the online forum, ”What was loved by poor people until rich people ruined it?” The question received over 18,000 responses in just six days. Given the commenters’ reactions, it seems there hasn’t been a simple, affordable pleasure in American life that hasn’t been co-opted by people with money and ruined.
Here are 17 things that poor people loved until rich people ruined them.
1. Living in warehouses
“Yes! They tore down all the real lofts to build condos they call lofts.” — StrainAcceptable
“And people complained the windows are too big and everyone can see in, and they didn’t like the open floor plan. That was the whole point. Artists had lots of room and tons of natural light.” — richarddrippy69
2. Etsy
“I bought so much stuff for my wedding in 2012 from Etsy. It was all handmade and so cute and inexpensive. It’s changed so much from the cool site it once was.” — PrudentConfection
3. Food banks
“My local food bank put out a news article basically saying that rich people need to stop using the food bank as a ‘life hack’ to lower their grocery bills.” — ConfidentlyCorrect
“This is why food banks in my area now need proof of need. Which is shit, because it means jumping through more hoops to put food on the table when you’re already desperate.” — DoorSubstantial2104
4. eBay
“It used to be so useful to get all kinds of cheap or unique things. Then more and more big commercial sellers joined the club, and eventually, eBay itself forgot about what and who made their platform a success in the first place.” — Onesmilematters
5. Cabins
“Quiet out-of-the-way country cabins sitting by lakes. Now they are overpriced Airbnbs.” — Amyaaurora
“I’d even say Airbnbs themselves. They started as a potentially cheap alternative to hotels run by people who have extra space they aren’t doing anything with. Now people build guest houses specifically for Airbnb and treat It like a full-on rental.” — Jarf17
6. Fixer-uppers
“Buying a ‘fixer-upper’ home and spending weekends working on it. I was really looking forward to that.” — Couldstrife1191
7. Thrift stores
“Thrift shopping. I’m not ‘thrifting’ I’m f**kin broke.” — Elduroto
“Sometimes I feel like it’s cheaper to buy clothes at Target or Walmart brand new than it is to buy from a thrift store.” — Urchintexasyellow
8. Festivals
“Burning Man was on my bucket list until rich fucks started showing up with bodyguards and started establishing private zones.” — hgaben90
9. Farmers markets
“That’s what our markets are turning into as well. It’s gone from local farmers and affordable produce to artisanal creations for the elite.” — KeepOnRising19
10. Houses
“We poor people would work our entire lives to own one. Property became a great investment and way to increase wealth so rich people started buying them. Not to live in as intended but to rent to the poor and keep them poor by renting so they will never be able to save enough to afford their own.” — Etobocoke
11. Fajitas
“I remember being able to get skirt steak really cheap and sometimes for free.” — DiegoJones4
“Oxtails/ crab/ wings used to be so cheap when I was younger.” — Glohan21
“A few influential chefs decided to introduce traditional peasant food to the world, and now oxtail ragu with pappardelle is a $30 dish in fancy restaurants.” — Patorama
12. Carhartt
“Blue collar workers needed the durability, then celebrities wore ‘fashionably’ and drove up the price.” — Pepperdice
“…and then Carhartt realized that their brand was fashionable, and started throwing their logo on cheap shit to capitalize off it.” — Glochnar
13. Hobbies
“Burning Man, Collectable Card Games, Retro Video Games, GOING TO CONCERTS…like seriously, just pick a hobby. Once the re-sellers get into it, prices go through the roof, and nobody can afford to do anything.” — divine_shadow
14. NFL games
“While I can afford them I have to ask myself what the actual F/ $500+ for a football game? The experience is awful too. Too many breaks, too many calls you can’t hear. It’s so much better to be on your couch or in a bar. Who is buying these tickets? $2300 for good seats in LA? That’s insane. It’s a game. On TV.” — StanFigjam
“In 1995 the average ticket to the Super Bowl was $200… This year it was $3800.” — RumWalker
15. McDonald’s
“It was originally a place for a quick eat because it was cheap, but now it’s just mid food for high prices.” — DrMcSpicy
“The old dollar menu stuff is like $3.50 minimum now.” — Perrymasson
16. Camping
“I’d say people with campers ruined camping. Can’t drive two miles in the mountains without having to hug the side of the trail to let some dude with $100k+ truck and trailer squeeze past you on a road they have no business going down.” — Reasonable-Tutor-943
“This and now it’s impossible to get a campsite because of the plethora of Sprinter vans and RVs that cost more than my house. Nobody (few people) camps in tents anymore!” — all-about-climate
“I swear 95% of the time I’m the only person in the campground with a compact car and not a $70k+ truck.” — DeliciousMoments
17. Life
“‘Poor’ people I knew were always happy with the simple pleasures. Now even these simple pleasures are almost impossible to afford unless they’re necessary and you break your back to pay for them so you almost resent them. Rich people are literally ruining life.” — Wenisdan