I agree, though that's a whole different subject. VCs are usually a very small share of their portfolios, and I guess the high risks are well known.
But it's true that VCs, private equity and bull markets in general, which people always think of as profiting mostly very rich people are actually essential to fund most retirement plans, pensions and insurances.
Pension funds have traditionally invested very small parts of their portfolios in riskier investments. It's usually done to slightly enhance yield.
But in the past decade pension funds have increased their "alternative" investments since their traditional bread and butter,bonds and fixed income, have had abysmal yields due to low interest rates. Yet with pension payout obligations having only gotten bigger (especially in europe, with the aging population, the pressure to generate returns is pushing the fund managers to seek out riskier and riskier investments.
VC's get their money from everyone else: pension funds, college endowments, charitable foundation endowments, and insurance companies.
It quite literally is a case of our children funding this.