I don't empathize with their needs because the aging boomer population is responsible for most of modern society's woes, most recently Trump and Brexit.
Further, let's take a look at the dying generation. They were born into a postwar era of booming suburbia and raygun gothic architecture. Women were allowed in the workplace in a non-secretary or switchboard operator role (which took a total war effort to allow in the first place). Sexism remained, but progress had been made. Racism was the quasilegal norm, but boomers pushed the social revolution that included integration and a number of de jure protections. Now, at the end of their lives, America is less openly racist than it has been at any point in history. It may not seem like it, because of the G.I.F.T. giving jerks a megaphone so they can spout their bile, but we don't commonly move out of a neighborhood because black folks move into it anymore. The young generation doesn't care, the old generation was raised to care but doesn't say it out loud, the dead generation cared and said so. Social change takes time. We have legal abortion now, too.
Every generation should put its children into a better world than they had themselves. We confer wealth, build infrastructure, preserve and gain knowledge and tools. We also try to note the sins of our fathers and try not to pass them on. This takes time, and effort, and the dying generation of boomers have run their course. Whether or not they're right about all things, it's fair to note that they're doing a lot better than their parents did, and they gave us the opportunity to do even better. In YC terms, there was clear opportunity for disruption in the social equality sector, and the olds took great strides to work on it.
I propose that _inertia_ is responsible for most of society's woes, and that the olds of any generation will show how far their children have come by contrast.
Edit: typo.