i have never financed a burrito

Some say an example of modern financial stupidity is that you can finance anything. All you have to do is go to Chipotle, use the Klarna app, do the BNPL (buy now, pay later) thing, make your purchase and ta-da, you've officially financed a burrito.

Is this any different from making the same purchase on a credit card?

No.

If one goes to Burger King and orders a Whopper Jr. w/cheese, then pays for it on plastic, that is absolutely a BNPL purchase. Until the card is paid off, that burger was literally financed.

Is it a bad decision to finance a burger? No. If over time the burger ended up costing 3x more due to payments with interest charges because the card wasn't paid off, the bad decision came from how the finances were handled and not from the burger itself.

Lately, I've been seeing a ton of videos on how so many people are in crushing amounts of debt. On the majority of these videos, one thing sticks out more than anything else.

Nearly everyone shown is under the age of 35.

Are people younger than 35 flat out stupid with money?

Yes.

Maybe not all under-35 people are mouth breathing knuckle dragging morons in how they handle their finances, but most are.

For example, Middle Aged Dude would buy a trunk organizer, because that's a genuinely useful thing for the car. An under-35 on the other hand would buy an illuminated gamer chair.

Another example is Middle Aged Dude would buy microfiber cleaning cloths, while an under-35 buys a t-shirt that says "sucks" on it.

And, of course, only an under-35 would be dumb enough to finance a burrito and go into real debt for it. Middle Aged Dude would just go to a gas station and buy a packet of peanuts instead, or say to hell with that and just cook food at home that's already paid for.