Pensioners contributed through all their life to society and when they retire, it is expected that they are taken care of.

The OP is talking about cases where you are not in retirement, and not disabled, the society expects you to pull your own weight. It is only fair, no?

I'm no longer sure which post is "OP" in this thread, but the problem is definitely deciding which people are and are not disabled. Setting up an adversarial system where you have to prove disability makes the problem worse, not better: people who are only somewhat disabled lose out, while people who are better at faking it get the benefits.

What about those without pensions? Homemakers, minimum wage earners? Is it fair to ask them to pull their own weight past retirement age?

1. Homemakers typically share and then 'inherit' their spouse's pension (if the spouse dies).

2. Even minimum wage earners have retirement contributions deducted through payroll. Not a lot of money, true, but poor people's pensions are slightly subsidized by higher earners (which is fair, IMO).

A quote from Jack Sparrow ( and I don't think it's a coincidence that it comes form a pirate, but that doesn't make it imoral, as long as it stands the test of reality ) :

"There is no good or bad, it's only what you can or you cannot do".

Everyone will act in it's best interest, according to the possibilites that is has available.

Those possibilites are refined by the feedback from the other members of society.