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Whenever we read another wild or completely bizarre news about some insanely rich guy doing something that we mere mortals wouldn’t only lack the money for, but also the imagination for, we ask ourselves - what the hell is going on?

Why have some incredibly expensive and, from our point of view, meaningless hobbies become firmly associated in the public consciousness with the most moneyed folk? And where is that fine line between reckless spending and just 'can afford' hobbies? Well, this viral thread on the AskReddit community is dedicated to such hobbies, and Bored Panda has made a selection of the best opinions from this thread for you.

More info: Reddit

#1

28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Hunt endangered animals.

SKMTG , Nicky Pe Report

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Tabitha
Community Member
2 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This one doesn’t make me roll my eyes. It makes my blood boil and want revenge. Like setting up something similar to what the antagonist has in the movie “The Most Dangerous Game” (look it up and watch it if you can, it’s pre-code 1930s Hollywood, meaning pre-censorship), but in this case only using nice healthy rich game hunters instead of shipwreck survivors. Maybe even feed them to the animals they hunt when they’re on their last legs. Yeah. (I’m not violent, but cruelty makes me see red and want revenge.)

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    #2

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Visit the titanic wreck in a cheap submarine.

    Nice_Ambassador_348 , CBS News Report

    #3

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Fox hunting.

    TapeDeckSlick , Joseph Yu Report

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    tori Ohno
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If you can't eat it, why would you hunt it? Hunting is to feed your family. Big game, foxes, endangered, and any non food animal should be off limits.

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    Well, since ancient times there have been incredibly rich people, and they also had hobbies that were inaccessible to 99% of those around them. For example, chariot racing in the ancient world. By the way, did you know that the ancient Olympic champion in chariot racing was not the rider, but the owner of the chariot and horses? If this seems weird to you, remember that the Oscar for the best film goes to the producer, not the director or starring actors...

    #4

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Buying an expensive car and then keeping it in your garage without ever actually driving it.

    Street-Basket-4457 , jae p Report

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    Nimitz
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Worked for a computer refurbishment place. We fixed oil field computers. They'd come back covered in dirt/mud, we'd clean them up, test them, and send them out. The flat rate was $140 each + parts and labor, averaging about $300/unit, so about $200 profit per unit. My quota was 26 units a day for me and 20 units a day for my assistants. We were heavily audited by QA. A misplaced label or a loose screw on the case (there were 36 screws) meant a fail and all the units needed to be redone. We went 18 months without failing a single audit, not even a yellow flag. When Christmas bonus time came around.... Sorry, no money for bonuses. Then in January the two owners took us outside to show us the Audi Spyders they had just bought themselves. They made 4-5 million a year in profit each. We made $30k/year in 2010

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    #5

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Collecting all the resources and money so they own millions of times more than their fair share?

    Joalguke , senivpetro Report

    #6

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Climb everest.

    uddsvek1427 , INFINITY ADVENTURE NEPAL Report

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    Tim Fawcett
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Favourite demotivational poster: "Every corpse on Everest was once a highly motivated person"

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    And also, insanely rich people at all times have loved hobbies steadily associated with risk to life. For example, knightly tournaments in the Middle Ages - a good war horse, armor and weapons were quite comparable in cost to a brand new racing car today. In addition, it was necessary to pay for fencing teachers - after all, you are risking your life and health in any case.

    #7

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Buying $500 vintage jeans.

    rosevine , BBiDDac Report

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    Janelle Collard
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "More money than brains." Too bad there are no charities that could use that $$$./s

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    #8

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Fund raisers for yacht clubs.

    Melodic-Metal3294 , Alexander Report

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    Janelle Collard
    Community Member
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    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Oh right, cuz they don't charge millions to even BE in the club. smh

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    #9

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Some rich people get super into collecting exotic pets. Like, yeah man, I’m sure your pet tiger is real fun until it starts thinking you look like a snack. Imagine trying to explain to your insurance company that your cheetah ate your couch… and your neighbor.

    Elizabethgeorgia , Pavan Kumar Report

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    Janelle Collard
    Community Member
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    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Hopefully the "nice kitty" would also eat their owner. :)

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    So why do people who can afford if not everything, then a hell of a lot in this life, risk their lives and health in search of a new hobby? It's all about adrenaline and dopamine - the very hormones on which our enjoyment of life depends so much.

    That is, if for me or for you, purchasing a new smartphone gives us enough dopamine, then a dude who earns the equivalent of a new iPhone every minute of his life simply won’t feel any pleasure from such a ‘trifle.’ The more financial opportunities you have, the more difficult it will be for you to enjoy life in the usual ways.

    #10

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Marlin fishing

    buy a multi million dollar sports fishing boat. have a full time captain to maintain it. compete in marlin tournaments during season where there is big money pay outs for winning and the owners also do side bets w each other.

    then spend 12 hours mindlessly trolling around and prob not catch anything other than sun burn and bordom.

    bucketsofpoo , Dominic Sherony Report

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    #11

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Rich Arabs cloning camels by the dozen because that first camel was really pretty. Cute.

    BabeBlossom_ , Steven Su Report

    #12

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Buying modern 'art'.

    imclearlyahuman , Guilhem Vellut Report

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    Tabitha
    Community Member
    2 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Not because they like it or it “speaks” to them. They don’t even understand art. They buy it as an “investment”, thereby artificially driving up the value of it—-not because it’s good art, per se, frankly, a lot of it looks like it was done by a toddler, but because rich people used up the money their accountants said they have to spend before the end of the quarter.

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    How does this all work? Just look at the example of Bruce Almighty, the movie with Jim Carrey and Morgan Freeman. Yes, this is a fictional comedy, but it shows quite well how an ordinary person, receiving unlimited opportunities, gradually loses the very ability to enjoy simple everyday trifles. Want to check it out for yourself? Well, it is actually possible, but first you need to get rich as hell...

    #13

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Consume food or drink with gold on or in it. Basically, eat gold.

    Glorious-gnoo , Naotake Murayama Report

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    Roxy222uk
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    ? They even use edible gold leaf sometimes on TGBBO, you don't have to be rich

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    #14

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Collecting felony convictions.

    Mooseagery , Kindel Media Report

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    Tabitha
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Paying the token fines after cashing in a favor with their a*****e buddy the judge. To the wealthy, legal fees and fines and tickets are just the cost of doing whatever the f**k they want and getting away with it. Who cares if they have a rap sheet a mile long, because they can just retreat back into their wealth and live their lives any way they want—-while the rest of us would be rotting in jail if we did a fraction of the s**t way too many rich kids do and never pay the consequences for.

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    #15

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Starting and hiding the existence of a second family as a result of cheating on their partner.

    FXN2210 , Pixabay Report

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    Panda McPandaface
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That's really not exclusive to rich people - in fact the two that I know personally are just average earners.

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    Be that as it may, life is such that it’s unlikely that you and I will become insanely rich by the wave of someone's magic wand (the last of such wands was called ‘Bitcoin’ and was widely available over ten years ago...). So for now, let's just scroll this list to the very end, and maybe add your own ideas of the weird hobbies that rich people do. After all, if discussing rich people brings us our portion of dopamine, then why not?

    #16

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Firework shows. And we are talking multi-million dollar contracts in some cases. Literally throwing money into the sky to burn.

    TumedasKihutaja , Designecologist Report

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    Another Panda
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I love fireworks, glitter, etc, but sadly they are horrible for the environment (and us as part of the enevironment, and fireworks kill wildlife and even cause pet deaths when they get frighted out of their minds. One local dog chewed its way through the laundry room door, tried to jump the fence to escape the sound fireworks being shot off illegally in the park, and impaled itself on the fence. Sadly, this sort of thing is not uncommon.

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    #17

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Collecting expensive handbags.

    Moon_Jewel90 , Arno Senoner Report

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    Regina Holt
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And some of those crazy a$$ expensive ones look horrible, or stupid.

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    #18

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Run around the city dressed like a bat.

    bulky_lifter01 , Matthew Oliphant Report

    #19

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Polo.

    Frimacopter , Paul Chambers Report

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    kitten levels tokyo
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Polo rule #12: If you whack a horse with your mallet, he gets to bite you.

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    #20

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Collect sneakers

    savessh , Mick Haupt Report

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    Verfin22
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I collect sneakers. I'm far from rich, but I actually wear them until they're useless and forget to toss them😆

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    #21

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Activities that cost a lot of money but come with a higher risk of death.

    Examples include space tourism, gliding sailing/yachts etc.

    johndoe1130 , Pixabay Report

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    Tabitha
    Community Member
    2 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You mean being enough of a d**k you’d shaft your own employees out of decent pay and treat them like slaves in your warehouses, just so you can have the billions it takes to build and launch your own personal d**k rocket, the tip of which looks like the top of your bald peckerhead?

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    #22

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Fly 150 of us out to an island and only the sole survivor makes it home.

    grabbena , Fyre Festival Report

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    Marno C.
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Are we accepting suggestions? Do they have to be willing? I have a few names.....

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    #23

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Anything with horses.

    VistaBox , Jean van der Meulen Report

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    Ellinor
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I know many poor people that love horses and do equitation, in my country there are some financial help so children can go to summer camps.

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    #25

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Extreme Bathing like having a luxurious bath rituals, including using rare ingredients or soaking in extravagant locations, can come off as over the top.

    PetiteAllyx , Antoni Shkraba Report

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    kitten levels tokyo
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Extreme Bathing would make an exciting extreme sport. Like showering with a lion or something.

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    #26

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Yacht Racing.

    DivineDiva_45 , Benjamin Elliott Report

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    Christopher Creighton
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Most sailboats are bought used and aren't that expensive. They are fun and difficult to race because you have to interact with nature and be very aware of your surroundings. It isn't as expensive as you think.

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    #27

    28 'For Rich Guys Only' Fads That Other People Find Nothing But Weird And Stupid Golf.

    Fit-Squash-1281 , Courtney Cook Report

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    David
    Community Member
    2 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Golf isnt a rich people hobby, many middle class do it to. In NYC they have public golf courses with low cost club rentals. For as low as $25 on a weekday and $27 on a weekend you can do a 9 hole half course (at early morning hours, prime hours are more). And full 18 as low as $35 on weekdays (36 weekend) at select hours. $35 for club rentals and $20 for a golf cart rental. So you can do 18 holes for as low as $90, making it affordable for the middle class

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