the old, the young and the worn down

A generational divide is a sad thing to contemplate but it shouldn't just be allowed to fester like a cankerous wound. There should be leadership capable of addressing the issues that bring it about.
Sadly, nearly everywhere you look, leadership is conspicuous in its absence.
I don't recall a time when there was such a general and palpable divide. Vietnam & the 60s/70s came close but I think it was a more focused divide, whereas today it is more economy based and general.

"The stage is being set for a global generational conflict. As the old men strut on the world stage, they have left the next generation an almost unfathomable $91 trillion debt load, essentially forcing higher interest rates along with the threat of higher taxes and service cuts. Even in authoritarian countries, the younger generations are getting increasingly restless. And in the West, fewer than 10 percent of Americans under thirty think the country is headed in a good direction.
In most leading countries—the US, China, Japan, the UK, and the EU—a clear and widening divide has opened up between the different age cohorts that will alter our politics, arts, culture, and social norms in the decades ahead. This process is being propelled by demographic shifts unprecedented in modern history. For the better part of a half-century, populations have been expanding and getting richer. Now, we live in an era of flat and even negative population growth, and a shrinking middle class in virtually every middle- and high-income country."

https://quillette.com/2024/07/26/the-puzzle-of-generational-politics-new-right-millennials-baby-boomers-genx-zoomers/