Most of us have no idea what it’s like to be wealthy, but I imagine the life of the extremely rich to be a little something like this: purchasing the fanciest vegan products at the store without even glancing at the price tag, snagging that expensive vintage coat you’ve been eyeing online without a second thought, attending every festival and concert you like because money is no object, and owning a home or apartment that actually has a dishwasher. Okay, maybe those are just the things I would do if I had all the money in the world, but there’s nothing wrong with dreaming, right?

Unfortunately, it’s a two-way street, and most rich people have no idea what it’s like to be middle class or poor either. Because of this, affluent people have a tendency to ruin things for the rest of us. One curious Reddit user reached out last week asking for examples of things that rich people have ruined, and readers did not hold back.

Below, you’ll find a list of some of these things that just aren’t as fun or as accessible as they used to be, so be sure to upvote any of the responses you wholeheartedly agree with. Let us know in the comments if anything else has been ruined for you by the upper class, and then if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article that might make you want to eat the rich, look no further than right here!

#1

Theme parks.

Gone are the days when everyone was equal and you all had to queue, regardless of your income. And even until recently some theme parks gave fast passes periodically throughout the day. Now if you've got deep pockets you can queue jump, making your day a little better and everyone else's a little worse.

Image credits: Lumber_Dan

#2

Concerts….. you can’t even buy a beer at one for what a general admission ticket used to cost and people still pay for it

Image credits: Theplaidiator

#3

Music festivals….used to be a bunch of hippies having a good time and doing drugs. Now its rich kids taking selfies dressed as hippies and doing drugs.

Image credits: Ombutztante

#4

RENTING

The over abundance of air bnbs and $2000 studio apartments in rural/suburban places is outrageous and ruining the possibility for low income and working class people to have a roof over their heads. I live in New York State, and ever since covid all these city richies are buying up all the cheap places in the country to try and make a profit - as if they need any more money!

Image credits: Far-Gain-3081

#5

I stopped going to professional sports because I can only afford s****y seats. Not worth the effort any more.

Image credits: maninthemoonpie

#6

Jeans. Used to be cheap, durable, wear them for years doing hard labor. Now they’re expensive, poor quality and come made with holes already in them, to ape the aesthetic of the working class.

Image credits: lettherebemorelight

#7

Old school ski mountains with family vibes and stoner lifties rocking to music. We always watched those silly “ski patrol” movies about the big corporations coming in and making them yuppyville and then it happened…

Image credits: RatPackRaiders

#8

Environment. Ah yes I will just turn off the light in my living room when I'm not using it, I'm sure it will combat the billions of tonnes of co2 created by those private planes

Image credits: Nopetynope12

#9

Cheap foods - donuts, cupcakes, hamburgers, wings - that have all been given the "foodie" treatment and went from good cheap eats to gourmet pricing without a corresponding increase in quality.

Image credits: SonofSniglet

#10

Burning Man

Image credits: misfitmedia

#11

College. The rich killed the market price for low income students, then gutted tuition assistance programs and turned them into for profit loan sharking.

Image credits: Steamed_Fuckin_Hams

#12

theater- used to be the entertainment for the masses and now it's ridiculously expensive and inaccessible to most people.

Image credits: teethwizardmanperson

#13

Earth

Image credits: WhitePopcornCeiling

#14

Our chances of avoiding catastrophic climate change.

Image credits: spydabee

#15

Collecting

In the past few years the price of little collectibles and things of that sort have gone insanely high. Cards, action figures, you name it, just look up any sub for a hobby and you'll see people dropping your entire salary in 1 day

Image credits: NoBenefit5977

#16

The middle class

#17

The middle class family’s ability to live comfortably on a single wage

#18

So many things, but I'll say trucks. Once upon a time, a humble working class vehicle for people who need to be able to do things themselves, now they're all luxury vehicles with massive margins, unaffordable to anyone who needs them to do real work.

Image credits: Shulk_X

#19

Walking. You can’t walk anywhere anymore everything is built to be driven to.

Image credits: qleptt

#20

Food trucks used to be a way to get good food for cheap, now it's a premium without any of the advantages of a restaurant. Not to mention that they all expect a 20% tip for handing you food from a window.

#21

Democracy.

#22

Lobster and crab used to be “poor person food” because “ew water bugs” now it’s literally seen as some of the highest class food.

Image credits: limbyeeter

#23

Video games. They've found a way to sell unfinished games while also maximizing microtransactions in some.

Some companies are better about this but the big ones are all about the money with as little effort as possible.

Image credits: Bunnybunbons

#24

Beaches./over development…they f**k it up every damn time..

#25

Living near the coast used to be a poor people thing a long time ago.

Image credits: PioneerDingus

#26

The American Dream

Socioeconomic mobility has been completely perverted due to a “rigging of the system” by the ultra wealthy over the past few decades. When someone is born into poverty, now more than ever are they likely to stay impoverished. 400 families control more wealth in this country than the bottom 50% of Americans

#27

I’m going to just say it, as it’s the season- Christmas! Corporations really did a number on Christmas. Plastic junky decorating starting as early as Halloween, REALLY dated irritating songs playing in every store starting November, all the consuming and now this ‘buy gifts for yourself’ narrative, the more you can ignore all this the more meaningful the holidays are.

Image credits: cbibby1

#28

Clothing brands. Carhartt, dickies, Levi’s and many more. Like why did a dickies tshirt go from $15 to almost $40 in a few years

Image credits: nativesnake

#29

My hometown, a lot of the long time locals here are working class and it used to have a bigger sense of community. In the recent decade rich people have decided that its a cute small town with pretty scenery to buy a second home to rent out to other rich people who want to visit. Many of the long time residents here are struggling to keep/find homes meanwhile rich people who just discovered this small town can easily buy a home or rent an overpriced airbnb. Literally disgusting here now!

#30

I’m sure someone already mentioned this but CAMPING. It used to cost close to nothing to reserve a camp site (some are still cheap) but now they’ve gone all boujee and some sites charge you ridiculous fees to pitch a tent in the woods. Same with music festivals in the forests. People would go to get away from bullshit societal hierarchies and enjoys music and self expression. Then they got all mainstream and it lost its original meaning (think Burning Man).

Image credits: porquenolosdo2

#31

There used to be a really nice big park in the center of the city where I live.

Everyone would go there, it was a nice open space, take your kids, take your dogs, enjoy the fresh air.

Then some people from the rich part of town along the edges of the park decided they didn't like the noise coming from the park and pulled some b******t to buy it out and walled it off so you couldn't go to the park unless you lived in that specific neighborhood anymore.

The worst part is a ton of money was spent when they first bought it building it up, adding fountains and childrens play areas and redoing the flower beds, and then no money or attention was given to it again and the whole place feel into disrepair so now even if you live in the neighborhood you can't go there because everything is falling apart and over grown.

So the aasholes took the really nice park from everyone else and then neglected it until it became a s**t hole in the middle of the city

#32

80s and 90s cars. The market is super hot right now and all the rich guys are buying them up. Sorta like 50s and 60s cars in the 90s

Image credits: MihalysRevenge

#33

Nerd paraphernalia like Star Wars or Marvel/DC stuff (action figures, comic books, etc). Used to be just a fun hobby for kids and kids-at-heart, now it's almost totally purchased by richer, dedicated speculators solely for profit.

Image credits: eddy_talon

#34

Toast. Now I know toast isn't a 'poor person thing' but hear me out. Years ago, when I was counting pennies to get by, I would make "fancy toast" like avocado toast, cinnamon and sugar toast, or peanut butter banana toast, as a meal or snack because it was super cheap. I went to brunch a few weeks ago and saw avocado toast on the menu for $11, wtf.

Image credits: km_amateurphoto

#35

The standard of living for everyone else.

#36

The easy answer: Everything. The harder answer: Interclass solidarity and quality of life. They've worked so hard to separate the have-nots into their own little groups, we're too busy fighting each other instead of taking the fight, politically speaking, to the rich and the 1 percent. You have more in common with your fellow man than you EVER will with a Bill Gates or Elon Musk.


Edit: Thanks for the awards, holy hell. Glad my highest post is about something important. <3

#37

Every single piece of water with accessible waterfronts.

Image credits: Sexycoed1972

#38

The goth subculture it used to always be make everything yourself, build it with basics I’ve been part of the subculture for the last 15 years. Now if I don’t wear dollskill or killstar (luxury goth clothing) 14 year olds on the internet tell me it’s not goth.

#39

CO born and raised here! Forever priced out of my hometown. Me and all my friends have moved, just can’t afford to live there anymore. Mostly expensive due to housing. Also skiing used to be affordable, now it’s not

#40

Everest

#41

Tiny houses or organic farming, free range chickens or egg , now everything is expensive because it's in trend

#42

Hockey.

The equipment is now super expensive, and ice time fees are becoming exorbitant. This isn’t even getting into levels of play. If you want to have a shot at the NHL, then your family better be able to fork over $20k-$30k for AAA prep schools or the like because Tier I Junior teams and Major Junior, which are the leagues that the NHL scouts, only select from AAA leagues.

#43

Bourbon, it used to be the most expensive bourbon you could find was like $100. Now, with everyone “collecting” the prices have sky rocketed. The secondary market is completely insane.

Image credits: W0rk3rB

#44

I used to thrift a lot and found it it got ruined right when that damn Macklemore song came out, it's like he told everyone a secret. I used to be able to go thrifting and come back with like 3 new work shirts and a pair of pants for like $15, good clothes too, some with the tags still on it. After that damn song, good luck finding my size at all, the clothes that were left were all shit, and they want $10 for a shirt now.

Image credits: h4terade

#45

Cheap cheap meats canned and not canned: Vienna Sausages, Corned Beef, Gizzards, Oxtail, Tripe, Crawfish, and so forth and so on. But now it's considered "Exotic" to eat like this.

#46

Montessori schools. The method was created to be able to teach poor orphans well despite little funding. Now it’s some sort of “elite” schooling for $20K+ a year.

#47

Healthcare

#48

Empathy

#49

Cheap cuts of meat in general. Pork belly and oxtail specifically. Growing up, oxtail used to be less than $2 a pound, now it’s well over $10.

#50

The UK's economy...

Or at this point the UK. Just...all of it...

Send help/politicians who don't hate their people. Please.

#51

When I was 21 and single, fish mongers used to give away\throw out fish heads. They now charge.

Flank steak was way cheep until people learned how to cook it. Now it's bloody expensive.

#52

Why is pork shoulder and oxtail so expensive? It literally used to be the parts nobody wanted.

#53

Any hobby where there’s potential profit. Now you’ve got dickheads like the Logan Paul ruining Pokémon cards. Not because they’re into them because they like Pokémon but because they read the stories about the rare cards and just hammered their endless piles of cash into getting everything. Same with those a*****e sheiks with massive comic book collections. They don’t give a f**k about comics. They just collect popular valuable stuff.

#54

Housing flipping for sure - looking to potentially buy at the moment and everything has been fitted with new grey kitchens and modern lighting etc which isn’t my style. I may be in the minority here but means paying way more for a house and then having the job of ripping everything out.

#55

Thailand. It used to be a back packers paradise.

You used to be able stay in huts on the beach and eat in local family run restaurants. All taken over by 5 star spa resort hotels, international chains and businesses moved in.

#56

Instagram. When it first launched we were content to post grainy pics of our average looking sandwich that we made ourselves. Or a mundane selfie. The background and the angle didn’t matter.

Studies show that since the wealthy started sharing their lives on IG, our collective standard of living changed. And it’s trickled down to our influencers mimicking wealth down to average users. We’re exposed to yacht parties. expertly organized and color-coded walk-in closets, high-end facials and party-planned gender reveals. We’re benchmarking our posts with professional photographers and videographers, elevating our expectations for everything.

Edit: For those saying, “just don’t use it,” it’s influenced every aspect of society whether you’re on it or not. Collectively society aspires to a flashier existence. Instagram has inspired new aesthetic-forward businesses like restaurants and coffee shops, [tourism](https://openaccess.nhh.no/nhh-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2678242/masterthesis.pdf?sequence=1), home decor and types of homes, gyms and gym bodies. Fashion.

#57

Government

#58

Being poor. I cant even be homeless without trying to fight for a camping spot

#59

*gestures at everything*


EDIT: Thank you kind strangers for the awards.

#60

Sailboats.

Used to be you could on a working man's salary get a decent day sailing boat that you could go out with for the day with enough cabin space and amentities to live aboard for a long weekend, maybe a week. Like the MacGregor 26.

But nobody makes mere sailboats anymore, they make... YACHTS. Expensive, over designed yachts.

#61

Housing - used to be the only people buying houses were those that were intending to live in them. Now you have rich people looking into investing in real estate, and guess what rich houses are poor investments. So rich people are buying up all the affordable housing driving up the price and creating scarcity.

#62

cheap and simple dishes. ramen, tacos, sushi. now everything’s gotta be labeled premium only to taste the exact same…if not, worse

#63

Everything really, mofos have more money than common sense and Jack up the prices for the rest of us.

#64

Art.

#65

Twitter

#66

Nature

#67

“Imagine” by John Lennon

#68

Formerly cool towns:
Denver, Austin, Asheville, etc.

#69

Tipping. The history of tipping has roots in rich a******s not wanting to pay their workers or just showing off their wealth. Now (Americans + others) need to solve a math problem before they can leave a restaurant.

#70

The economies and well being of natives of a c**p ton of islands. I'm talking Hawaii, places in the Caribbean, etc. Becoming economically dependent on tourist culture that is created and ultimately profited on by rich foreigners sucks. Ppl can argue about whether or not their trip to these places are helping the economy or not, but what's undeniable is that the people creating these tourist economies don't give a single s**t about the natives as they bulldoze through sacred sights and native neighborhoods in order to hand out culturally inaccurate hula skirts at 3 star hotels.

#71

Where do I start...rural living. They keep migrating like locusts and devouring all the woods and land. How many yogurt shops and fancy neighborhoods do theese ***** need?! Also, Aldi. I don't shop there anymore. I liked it better back in the day when it wasn't fancy, aisles narrow, and other poor or frugal people were shopping. Now the 'Live Laugh Loves' are in there with no sense of personal space. Watch out when the spiral hams are on sale! lol. I think we covered thrifting, housing, and cheap eats. (I hope they never think beans and rice are trendy! Those are my staples.) I also hate that they are now into prepping/survival too. (I think they were the ones crazy buying TP because poor people already know how to shop sensibly and keep a working pantry. I learned from my grandparents who lived during the depression.)

#72

Avocados

#73

Aspen Colorado

#74

Tulum, Jackson Hope, Aspen, many rural areas of Colorado, Antigua Guatemala, Land Rover Defenders, etc.

#75

Colorado.