Today, the old disproportionately control power and they direct that power towards their own protection. This is true of 80 yr olds. But it is also true of 50 yr olds. And even 30 yr olds.
The COVID crisis response is one such example. Overbearing responses were put into place primarily because the danger was to old people. Concerns over this very outcome were handwaved away with low likelihood counterfactuals.
Alternatives exist in some other cultures. We are familiar with the Fukushima Skilled Veteran Corps https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-13598607 but there are people who have a similar perspective who occupy this world.
My parents are surgeons in their sixties and they continue to practise during this crisis and do not advocate for the degree of total lockdown that is so popular. They do not advocate for closed schools. I would rather be them than be like risk-averse 70 yr olds saying that life should pause (but not their pensions).
I’m going to go ahead and say it: intransigent old people might be the greatest threat to humanity’s long term survival through their normalcy bias, grip on power, and fear of change. I hope that as I grow older I, too, manage to prioritize the next generation over myself.