If we take the metaphorical view of vampires as those that feast on the blood of the young to extend their own lives then as a planet (or at least in the West)

If we take the metaphorical view of vampires as those that feast on the blood of the young to extend their own lives then as a planet (or at least in the West) we have never been more infested - how many people are dying young, through overdose or suicidal hopeless, or otherwise having their life force drained through sky high rents and stagnant wages so that boomers can carry on living the high life? How many young people killed themselves during pandemic lockdowns, lockdowns that were in place mainly to save boomer lives? There’s also the related zombie concept - how many dead, uncompetitive and mismanaged companies, banks and pension funds are we keeping alive through government bailouts, which are again, essentially draining the life force of the living to feed the dead? I also like “What We Do In The Shadows” (tv show version) extension of the metaphor to the “energy vampire”, which is essentially a criticism of bloated bureaucracy which is another one of the modern monsters draining the life out of us all. I don’t think these terms were ever meant to be taken literally by those who created them but as platonic ideals to describe personalities and systems, but the education level and lifestyles of the time were so barbaric, primitive and rooted in physicality that the majority struggled to comprehend them as such.