Recently, Reddit user u/degreeofvariation posed the question, “What was loved by the poor until the rich ruined it?”
CBS
There were a lot of responses that resonated with us. Here are some of the most voted responses:
“Food banks. My local food bank put out a news article that basically said that wealthy people should stop using food banks as a 'life hack' to save money on groceries.”
LeoPatrizi via Getty Images
“Etsy. There are tons of accounts with cheap, shoddy Chinese stuff you can get on other websites. No, I go to Etsy for handmade items and to support artistic individuals.”
NurPhoto via Getty Images
“Yes, I remember trying to avoid the temptation of Shein and buying a unique pearl belly dance waist chain on Etsy for $20. Readers, it was from Shein, but it had no tags and was 200% more expensive. Thanks to the reviewer for exposing it.”
—u/onlythebestformia
“Houses. We poor people work our whole lives to have a house. Real estate became a great investment and a way to grow wealth, so rich people started buying houses. Instead of buying them to live in, they rented them out to poor people, and by renting them out they kept them poor, so they never saved enough to buy their own house.”
Fennema/Getty Images/iStockphoto
—u/exWiFi69
“Go to the Farmer's Market”
Hispanolistic (via Getty Images)
—u/KeepOnRising19 “Let's not forget the ones that border on MLM, like the guys selling 'Brazilian Cheese Bread' that they make using prepackaged mixes and equipment provided by their parent company. And the booths encouraging you to buy solar panels or new windows where you spin a silly spinning wheel to win prizes like a company-branded bottle opener and enter your name, address, the make of your first car, and your Social Security number.”
—u/danny17402
“A counter-culture based festival. Burning Man was on my bucket list until rich people started showing up with bodyguards and creating private zones.”
Julie Jamot via Getty Images
“I shop at thrift stores. I don't ✨recycle✨. I don't have money.”
Alistair Berg/Getty Images
—u/Urchintexasyellow
“Buying a house that 'needs fixing up' and spending a weekend fixing it up. I was really looking forward to it.”
Westend61 via Getty Images
“I always say: FUCK scalpers. If the house wasn't usable or on the brink of being condemned, someone who would actually live there could buy it. Scalpers try to justify their existence by saying people want something 'move-in ready,' as if people would buy it in that condition.”
—u/Foamtoweldisplay
“Champion brand clothes. I had lots of them when I was a kid because they were the cheapest, but now all that stuff is considered 'vintage.'”
Daniel Zucnik via Getty Images
“A scrap of meat.”
Bhofack2/Getty Images/iStockphoto
—u/evamores “There are a lot of ethnic foods in America. The really good ones might be really cheap and off the beaten path until the yuppies and hipsters discover them, and then they're sold in every shopping mall for $30 a plate and of crappy quality.”
—u/Atheist_Alex_C “I remember chicken wings were 10 cents because they couldn't be given away for free. Now it's become an industry. Plus, they fold the wings in half and call them two wings.”
—u/Caspers_Shadow
“A quiet, secluded country cabin by a lake. Now it's an overpriced Airbnb.”
George Pachantouris (via Getty Images)
—u/Jarf_17
“Pickup trucks. They used to be cheaper.”
Traminho via Getty Images
—u/HauntedCemetery
“Vanlife and tiny house living.”
ViewApart/Getty Images/Istophoto
—u/Tangelo_12
“Collectible card games and retro video games. Once scalpers get involved, the prices skyrocket and no one can do anything about it.”
ilbusca via Getty Images
—u/Goldeneel77
“eBay. It used to be such a great place to get all kinds of cheap and unique stuff. Then more and more big commercial sellers got on board, and eventually eBay itself forgot what and who made the platform successful in the first place.”
Stockcam via Getty Images
“Eat salmon. Fish used to be a poor man's food. Now you have to pay an exorbitant amount for just a little bit of fish.”
Gbh007 / Getty Images/iStockphoto
—u/Commercial-Many-8933
“Carhartt clothes. Blue-collar workers needed them to be durable, then celebrities started wearing them 'fashionably' and the prices went up.”
Jeremy Mohler via Getty Images
And finally, “Going to NFL games and concerts. Tickets have been out of my budget for the last few years.”
Bernardo Bodo/Getty Images/iStockphoto
“Exorbitant ticket prices, plus service charges, parking and beer. No, no thanks, I'd rather have a nice holiday instead.”
—u/FullThrottle-
