Sticks & Stones etc

Remember that old idiom? "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me"?
How wrong that has proved itself!
Nowadays, when asked, as often is, on application forms - "Profession" when you reply "Pensioner" you might as well insert "Busted-Poor-Poverty stricken" it all amounts to the same thing! Indeed, some authorities assume the word "Pensioner" to mean "A bum who scrounges upon Society"!
It seems to me, frankly, just a little late to inform people of my age group, those older than myself, and even one generation or two, younger than myself, that they must start to put money aside for their future! Money aside from a Pension? Apart from Politicians themselves, who made all the empty promises of once-upon-a-time, or a member of the 10% of those who hold 90% of the world's riches, nobody is capable of "putting aside" anything!
Of course, as I understand from recently released figures, the age of the official Pension will be increased, to somewhere around 67 years of age. This will sort it all out!
I won't go into the impracticalities of this in many professions and metiers, suffice to say that it is already preferable to fall down dead "on the job" than to struggle with the problems of low pensions, unemployment, homelessness and helplessness. I am sure of one thing, it won't be the Politicians who will suffer from any increase of "pensionable" age! The average age of Politicians (of all sorts and all parties) is already over the official retiring age, but then - they already have various little "agreement" pensions, like the positions of "advisors" etc., and so long as they are allowed to continue to "doze" off in the Parliament chambers, after a luxurious lunch (at the expense of someone else, of course) then they will not complain! Even if they do complain, the worst that can happen is that they will be "promoted" to the Upper House, or the "other place", where they will continue to doze away, even more than before, only to be revived in time to vote (for what, they have no idea, but somebody said they must) and in time, of course, for tea and cucumber sandwiches!
You can apply this, in the necessary form, for ALL the countries of the so called "civilised" world.
Certainly, Politics and Politician were always "dirty" words, nowadays replaced by "Pensioner".
Just how many "pensions" do some of the people concerned have nowadays, how many "Minister" pensions are swanning around, together with all the attached privileges, and as if all that wasn't enough, when nothing else is available, then off they go to the European Parliament! I beleive their presence is not even controlled, or desirable, apart from the occasional "hello - I'm here, have the pay slips arrived yet?"
Knowing that more and more pensioners are having more and more trouble in achieving, and keeping, reasonable life standards, I wonder just how many of these Politicians (and Bank/Assurance/Administration workers etc.,) are aware of the (for the moment) latent, but potentential wrath that is being accumulated by normal people, all over the world?
People who were in that "comfortable" position, with the car changed every year, house worked and paid for, are now starting to reconsider their position. Big car? Change every year? No longer possible, and even if it is, very little cash available to fill the tank with petrol, or pay the Insurance, Road Tax, repairs, controls, and all the rest of the things the politicians have dreamt up to try and keep others off the roads. How to keep that (on average in UK) £1,000,000 house? The taxes and Insurances to be paid - but from what? This was all meant to be my "heritage" to my children! They are unemployed now, anyway, and could never find the sums required to pay all the bills.
After all, it is very disturbing, as an important politician, to be held up in a traffic jam, in one's luxury limousine, paid for, and run by those "others" on the road. Why not make it impossible, for at least a large part of those "others" , to even find themselves in a vehicle , in the same traffic jam as our illustrious politician.
Same politician who informs us all that we are a great people, we help develope and cure 3rd world countries, whilst our own citizens can't afford a reasonable standard of living.
We all know that from £1.00 somewhere around 99p finds itself diverted elsewhere, to the pockets of the Taxman/Chancellor or other devious, doubtful characters, like Banks and Assurance people, all "highly respectable pillars of Society!"
I could go on for a very long time, but I doubt that it would change anything. The wrath of the Public in general, will be held under wraps, by those very politicians. Or.....................? Maybe Revolutions don't only happen in Banana Republics (and France). Maybe the unthinkable could happen elsewhere? In a very correct manner, of course!
The only problem is that after a Revolution, indeed before it, there has to be something in place to replace the overthrown system, and those who wait in the wings are certainly not waiting there to apply a system wished and wanted by the majority - no, they are there to apply their own particular form of misery!
I don't know what the solution is, but I'm not alone - I'm in the good company of all those doubtful, respectable pillars! One thing I can be sure of is that when the ships sinks, the rats won't drown!