How motivating to realize that I fail on the very first tier...

Not that the other tiers look any better from my perspective, but I'm getting overly negative again, so I should just get some sleep.

That pyramid is the OWS motivators summed up in an easy package. More and more people are having trouble moving up the pyramid, and they're fighting back.

How nice it would be to able to blame external sources for personal failures, but I guess I was sort of raised this way as to believe that I have to be able to make it myself as have all others before me. Many people have had it far worse, and they have made it, so basically I have no right to complain on those grounds, but it's all so very complicated in the end...

One cannot forget the factor of luck in life. Yes, hard work is the core of all success, but getting good/bad breaks is something that happens to all those who are trying to succeed. We should work for a society that maximizes good breaks and eases the blow of bad breaks.

This is the reason for the different views of...say, social programs in Europe vs US. Those in the US believe hard work and nothing else is needed for success, and thus more people view social programs as unnecessary. Those in Europe also acknowledge the value of hard work, but realize luck is also a factor. Thus a society with more social programs, to help "stack the deck" so to speak.

That pyramid does not seem to be right to me, at least if it is menat that the top depends on the bottom. It has things like "employment" and "property" in it as sort of a prerequisite to friendship and creativity. Some of the most creative and most friendly people I know are unemployed and poor. Actually being poor and unemployed means that one has to maintain freindships and be creative if one wants to keep going.

It's a hierarchy of needs, not skills. Getting and retaining a job is usually a higher priority over being creative, or seeking out new friends.

I think it refers to the fact how you are made to feel as unemployed individual in a society that values productivity and all that jazz. Not to mention money is at least in some amounts a necessity when it comes to doing anything in these days, because everything costs money. You can't be an artist if you can't afford to buy the necessary supplies to do art for example.

This is true, but I think the pyramid is more about the individual than the community in general.

We had to talk about that pyramid in my health class in high school, which everyone has to take. And the teacher said the employment part is about having financial security, like having enough money to have peace of mind that you will be able to provide food shelter, water, air etc, the needs, and that you will have enough time to find a job and still provide those lower level needs, even if you are laid off. That's what the state taught us anyway.

Oh this is just fantastic, I can't wait to see this stuff roll out on the street at the Republican National Convention! They already have the "Sound Cannon" set up(watched them bring it in with some Occupy people). Wonder how long the protests will last before the roll out the tanks and grenade launchers.

Great my town is going to turn into a war zone!

Just watched that movie actually, and the armored vehicle is the FBI's, so the police don't necessarily have them. I live in Columbus, and as far as I know, we don't have them. We have helicopters, and SWAT, but that's it. I don't know about really big cities like LA, Chicago, or NY though. They might have them, but then again that might only be the FBI.. until soon.