It’s About More Than Burritos
Gen-Z’s affordability concerns are larger than meals and houses; they are about whether the American Dream is still attainable.
Conservatives love to argue.
Members of the American right wing hold vastly different views on several issues, from foreign policy to trade, immigration, and everything in between. The latest point of contention? A $20 burrito.
The mostly online firestorm began when Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet shared the affordability concerns of a college student. The take was pretty simple: “A burrito should not cost $20.”
Obviously, a $20 burrito is excessive, but I posit that the college student’s concerns and the concerns of much of my generation are larger than the price of a burrito or other superficial goods. Harvard’s Fall 2025 Youth Poll, which surveyed Americans aged 18-29, reflects the larger extent of Generation Z’s concerns. Only 30 percent of respondents believe that they will be better off financially than their parents. Perhaps more concerning, a college education, an increasingly expensive enterprise, made only a slight difference, with only 35 percent of college-graduate respondents indicating they believed they would be better off financially than their parents.
Harvard’s Spring 2025 Youth Poll further illustrates the bleak outlook of many in Generation Z. 86 percent of respondents believed a financially stable future was important to them; only 56 percent felt confident they would be able to achieve financial stability. 74 percent of respondents stated that owning a home is important to them; only 54 percent of respondents felt confident that they would be able to own a home in the future. Lastly, 67 percent of respondents stated that finding a long-term romantic partner is important to them; only 57 percent felt confident that they would be able to achieve that goal.
As financial anxiety rises among Generation Z, so too does the lack of young people getting married and having children at the same rates as before. In a 25-year span, the gap between unmarried and married American men under 40 has increased drastically, from 1.5 million to 15 million. As a result, more young American men are less fulfilled. Certainly, young Americans' economic discontent extends far beyond overpriced burritos.
Those who responded in peculiar opposition to the simple claim that burritos might be too expensive certainly do not see the comment as an indicator of an increasingly doubtful future outlook for Generation Z. George Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen was quick to chime in; he stated that “the burritos in the college cafeteria are included in your meal plan.” Ben Shapiro also offered his take: “If you’re paying $20 for a burrito and you’re not independently wealthy, you’re doing life wrong.”
In a podcast, Shapiro stated that, “In the United States of America, we are fatter, richer, have nicer houses, nicer cars, and the food we eat is much better than it was for our parents in general. Our parents probably would have considered a $4.50 taco a gourmet meal.”
Of course Shapiro is correct about America’s material abundance, but he sidesteps the real concern of my generation.
A gourmet meal, a nice car, and a nice house are not possessions that bring meaningful fulfillment. America is fatter and richer than it previously was; apart from the fact that obesity is in no way a sign of a healthy country, Shapiro omits the fact that Americans, especially younger Americans, are more depressed, anxious, and confused than ever before.
The third unalienable right in our own Declaration of Independence is the pursuit of happiness. Happiness is not how advanced a society is; it is not how convenient a society is, and it is certainly not the same as pleasure. In 2026, it is easier than ever to access pleasure. Pornography is hyper-accessible; gambling has now infected a large majority of sports media, and prediction markets threaten to do the same to any other pastime you might enjoy. Conversely, it has become harder to access happiness. It has become more difficult, economically and culturally, to get married and raise a family.
More and more young men indulge in pornography and gambling daily or more often. The effects of these habits are clear: young men who participate in these practices daily or more often are more likely to consider themselves failures than those who do so less frequently.
The issue is not that young men have abandoned marriage or even fatherhood. The issue is that the institution founded to facilitate life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is falling short of its responsibility.
Conservatives have a responsibility to shirk the vice economy, not accept its sponsorships. Government has a duty not to provide these things, but to create the conditions that make Americans' unalienable right to the pursuit of happiness possible and accessible.
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