Ep. 2479 - Your Grandparents Would Kill for Your Grocery Bill

August 5, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The Black Pill Problem: Why Doom-Scrolling the Economy Is Making Everything Worse

Grocery prices are up about 35% since 2019, and everyone knows it. But here's what Ben Shapiro wants you to understand: those prices are never coming back down to 2019 levels—the only way that happens is through a serious deflationary depression. The real problem, he argues, isn't the price of eggs. It's the "unrealistic inflated utopian expectations" that have taken over American politics, particularly on the right.

The Numbers That Don't Match the Mood

Shapiro walks through the actual data. Food expenditure as a share of family disposable income has been flatlined at well under 10% since the mid-1990s. Back when your parents were grocery shopping, it was 13-15%. According to the Foundation for Economic Education, the price of eggs declined 96% between 1919 and 2019—meaning an unskilled laborer today can buy 24 times as many eggs for the same work as someone a century ago.

He takes aim at the viral complaint that "a burrito shouldn't cost $20." His response: a burrito at Chipotle tops out around $13. A Taco Bell option runs $5.99. And if you buy tortillas ($4 for a pack of ten), refried beans ($2.50), cheese, salsa, and an avocado at the supermarket, you can make one for under $2. "So what the hell are we even talking about here?"

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What you'll learn

1 (02:34) **The Grocery Price Reality Check** - Ben opens by acknowledging high grocery prices (up ~35% since 2019) but argues the real problem is inflated expectations of what life should cost
2 (03:40) **Republican Voter Depression and Approval Slide** - Polls show GOP moderates abandoning Trump, with approval ratings crossing downward after Liberation Day
3 (06:08) **The Burrito Test: Debunking "Can't Afford Food"** - Ben dismantles the claim that basic food is unaffordable by breaking down the actual cost of a homemade burrito
4 (08:49) **America Is Fatter, Richer, and Better Fed** - The data shows Americans today have objectively better food access and quality than any prior generation
5 (09:30) **The Back-to-the-Land Cosplay Critique** - Ben mocks the trend of suburban chicken coops and domestic food production as expensive, inefficient nostalgia
6 (13:16) **The System Is Not Broken** - The US food production and delivery system is the most efficient in history, not something to be dismantled
7 (16:16) **The Right's Doom-Pilling Problem** - Black-pilling on the right is hurting Republican chances by demoralizing voters and splitting the coalition

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Ben Shapiro

Show Notes

Groceries are indeed too expensive, but America has another problem, too: utopian expectations of life totally disconnected from reality. Plus, Tucker Carlson is defending Islam again, and Andrew Tate tweets meaningful thoughts from jail.

Ep. 2479

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