Ted, the squat toilet is very common in Asia and some counties in Eastern Europe and Africa; people are used to it from generations of "service", and many claim is even more sanitary that the one you and me are used to, since there is no skin contact between toilet and human during each usage.  It has also being claimed that squatting helps to prevent colon cancer and constipation.  The first by fullt evacuating the colon when squatting (not when siting), and the second because in squatting the anal channel is straight, if sitting is bent at 90 degrees.

When I arrived here at first, it was a serious problem for me.  As you said, it is very had to get up afterwards, pants get dirty if you do not learn the trick to keep them off the floor, and since I am not a bombadier, the aim was lousy.  But practice makes life simpler, and by trial and error I learned the proper position, and by doing some excercises every morning at home of squatting and getting up a few times, I developed muscle strenght to avoid embarrasment in public toilets.  Another thing I did is to accustom my body to get up in the morning, haver coffee and straight for No. 2, so I have no worries the rest of the day.  At home I have western type toilets.  Also most hotels will have rooms with western toilets, and trains have on each car one end with chinese toilet, the other end western.

As a last resort, some stores sell a small stool, it has 4 legs and sort of a doughnut on top, you place over the chinese toilet and then you can seat.

A toilet revolution?  Not from the current elderly.  They've lived through enough hardships that they won't complain at all.  Now the current generation is getting lazy enough that when they grow old and tired, there stands a chance for said potty revolt.