My first post: About an old and often repeated (poor) argument within the fanbase that just will not go away. Argh...

Well, as a first blog post this one is going to be a little thick. But I just had to get this "on to paper" and articulate a point that has been on my mind for ages. Here we go...

1st. In brief, roughly:

The argument that humans (vs. ponies in this case) are AWESOME or vile little monsters. I mean, Really? Why this seems to crop up so frequently puzzles me. Framed (often awkwardly) in a number of stories and being discussed in the comment sections of many more. This argument is made one way or the other time and time again. Only rarely without a presupposed answer.

Now, I am not talking about if someone wants to cover an ethical point and its consequences or even circumstances bringing up ethical/moral conflict. I mean the inherent 'good vs. evil' of humans/ponies schtick or the 'damn the ethics' of action or event. Where you get the "humans: f*** ya" or f*** the ponies lines somewhere in the comments.

2nd. A disclaimer/point-of-clarification:

Now to clear up a matter of opinion before moving on: I don't think humanity(or MLP:FiMs ponies) are evil, or ultra-corrupting. Nor do I think of either as pure good. In addition to that I don't put stock into the "Humans First!" or "Ponies First!" stances.

3rd. Observations, analysis and WALL OF TEXT/rant:

Okay now most(I think nearly all) Fimfiction readers have heard of or read a TCB story. At least they have seen TCB mentioned in another stories comments at one point. This is the most notorious family of stories related to the pesky Humans/Ponies are AWESOME(or The Good Guys) vs. are vile monsters (or capital E, Evil) argument.
Now, the main line of TCB settings supposes that Humans want to or must turn into ponies, then join Equestria. And this is a very good thing(ie either personally or in the Big Picture). The original 'The Conversion Bureau' story was a clunky little tale, made early in the fandom.
Around TCB (as a setting or premise) a lot of misanthropy(or to be nice about it, deep cold cynicism) was expressed. Readers opposed to that message started writing stories depicting the ponies and the bureaus as at best making a misguided attempt at a coercive moral crusade, with excessive zeal, or at worst as a premeditated xenophobic power grab. Then both groups kept writing story and counter-story. These tales became more and more explicitly negative, making excuses for one side whilst demonizing the other.
Well, we got the xenolestia(xenophobic/xenocidal Celestia) archetype out of this. Xenolestia even now makes 'guest' appearances in other fics now... Mostly in Changeling centered stories or the odd HiE. Oh Joy(<--Sarcasm).
In fairness some good deconstructions and parodies of the TCB stories where written. Plus versions with a hopeful or sad tone, about the lesser of two evils and unfortunate sacrifice in the face of natural (or inadvertently caused) disaster.

The Human/Pony good vs. evil(or at least who comes first) argument is part of other stories outside TCB of course. unfortunately it also comes up in the commentary of other stories(where it isn't the point, at all, of said story).

This last part is the most troubling. Write a story about 'what it is to be human(?)', with any humans in the story? Expect someone to complain that said human(s) get the short end of the stick, are a doormat or state that the human(s) should lash out at the non-humans(ponies). Next(or first) someone else wants human(s) to cease being a human by some measure or to be 'cleansed' out of existence for their/his/her 'foul deeds' (when they aren't a villain). Have a First Contact story with any ongoing tension? Same thing. Any potential pony vs. human conflict in a story broader than beat 'the one villain' causes this too. Funny enough, though less attention grabbing it seems, is the turn the pony into a human to resolve another(often human) characters inner conflict. Though I will note more writers seem to use pony-to-human generally right, avoiding the 'humans are better' tripe. More aggressive Commentators though seem to use 'humans are better' line of thought and want to avoid the human making the opposite choice to resolve the conflict, or preserve a favorite pony when they read the story as 'the ponies are evil/the villains' as a 'good guy/gal'. Yes, the majority of human to pony stories are mediocre or out-right terrible... With very rare and very, very well done exceptions.
Lastly, well this argument is troll-fodder, or a pet favorite for the times someone wants to be angry and pick a fight. And MOST OF US KNOW THIS...

Really, this argument has no good answer, because it isn't a valid one to make.
Most likely Humans aren't the most awesome thing in existence, more deserving than anything else.
So..Yes son, you should let the other children play with the ball sometimes.
We aren't some blight on the universe(that would be a conceded boast). Your family, friends and neighbors (probably)aren't hellspawn in sheep's clothing.
Don't blame others for the actions of a few.

As for those that strongly prefer the rare obvious and simple villains of the show over real life's convoluted mess of minor evil-doing and monstrous historical villains:

Remember that two out of four major MLP:FiM villains were ponies. One apparently had to die(so spoke the little crystal heart of love and happiness). And the first, a redeemable one, was forged by power and jealousy.
Lets also consider the truly minor apprehensions and miscommunication that typified the slice-of-life lessons.

That's not much better than humanity; especially if you made our lives into short cartoon episodes.

4th. in closing, and finally comments

Well, I end what has turned into a long rant and just say: If you can related to FiM or the human condition, than you necessarily can relate to the other. The canon setting and characters are a hopeful projection of us, with our flaws too. So why project anger or misanthropy into it? Your/our pride or well-being really aren't on the line here, neither are the colorful little ponies.
Come on, can't we ask the fun questions, deal with a little moral ambiguity or 'watch' sticky situations unfold in our fan made stories without the metaphorical chest thumping?

P.S.: Pardon my grammar. And me, I guess.