Help! My Heart is Full of Pony - Labor · 4:35pm Sep 5th, 2017
Image Source: MLP: FIM, Winter Wrap Up
For Labor Day, I just want to take a moment to commemorate the heroes of the labor movement who fought to give us the 40 hour work week, the weekend, safer work conditions, and protection from child exploitation in the workplace.
I also want to take a moment to acknowledge those of us in the workforce right now. Without the people who work hard everyday, civilization itself would literally grind to a standstill.
Perhaps the reason the show seems so utopian is that every pony plays their part. Regardless of whether they are wrapping up winter, or trying to get enough wing power to generate a hurricane to harvest the water up to Cloudsdale, My Little Pony consistently paints a vision of a world where everyone is both needed and appreciated.
Working hard together is a vital part of Equestrian culture. It's what binds the community of Ponyville to one another - common interests / common goals. It's even reinforced mystically through cutie marks. After all, is that not the ultimate dream? For your passion, and your talent, and your contribution to society to be the same thing?
Through the magic of cutie marks, this happens fairly naturally, (maybe not totally seamlessly as the Cutie Mark Counselors have discovered, but organically nevertheless).
I think perhaps what is so appealing about Equestrian society isn't that there are no troubles, or no conflicts, or no tragedies (it's far from a bubble devoid of conflict), but that these things are overcome through friendship. Friendship between individuals is at the core of pony magic. Friendship between cultures is what founded Equestria. Friendship between the individual and society as a whole? That's what makes the world of man go 'round. A synergy of dreams; a strong community ethic; work - meaningful work - where every contribution genuinely counts.
It's civilization functioning at its smoothest.
It may not be fully achievable. It is an ideal. I just wanted to take a moment to reflect upon Labor and its relation to society. That's what Labor Day is for: to honor ourselves and our work, and to honor those who fought to make the workplace better for themselves and for their fellow human being.
I also wanted to stop and look at pony's vision of labor and admire it. It's a beautiful thing. We can all learn from it, even if it is just a dream.
-Sprocket
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-Sprocket
Hear, hear!
It was a lot of hard work to get to where we are today. Sometimes it wasn't even peaceful. We shouldn't forget the sacrifices made to get our working conditions what they are today.