I assume others have had this idea, but is Princess Celestia a dictator? She seems to want to crush all who oppose her. Discord, Nightmare Moon, changelings etc. Anypony or anything that challenges her politically, she either imprisons, or exiles. All I know is that isn't exactly Democracy in action.

2313222 Empress Suncunt as a tyrant is a central tenant to my story, A Brave, New World.

I say Twi should sieze the throne and rule along with Lulu.........But turn Celestia to stone first.

2313522 Karma

2313417 I'll have to check it out

2313222 It's never been explicitly stated as to how much political power any of the Princesses really have. They might be mostly figureheads at this point, they might have total control over the kingdom. But as far as we've been shown, Celestia is generally benevolent in the treatment of her subjects. Most of the things she's done have been for the good of the planet/ecosystem/whatever, at least in the history we've given, which, as we know, was written by the winners. But eternal night would kill the plants. Discord might have torn the world apart for his own amusement. And the fact that Celestia has the power to throw pure sunlight at cities disobeying her and hasn't (as far as we know) leads me to say probably not.

But for neutrality's sake, I'll simply say that there's not enough info for me to make a decision, so to me she's Schrodinger's Tyrant - she is and she isn't until one of those positions is proven.

2313688>Saying I might be Petrified?
{Insert Discord emicon here)

2313222 Well, it's not like she wilfully attacks them I guess. And you can still be a democracy that wilfully crushes everybody (in theory).

But yes, 'harmony' as an ideology has never sat well with democracy, because democracy is about competing interests and harmony is about unity of interests. This much was set out in Plato's Republic, and it's worth noting that the country on Earth which promotes a 'Harmonious Society' is Communist China.

2313752
I myself think it's more likely that she is not. She has been shown to be benevolent toward her kingdom, and we don't know how much power they hold, though I'd definitely say they're more than just figureheads. When she defeated Discord and NMM, they were a huge threat to everyone in the world, so of course she had to oppose them. The changelings are a different story, as we weren't given a clear enough reason or backstory as to why Chrysalis did what she did. For now, I'm going to side with Midnight Herald here and say there's not enough info.

Also, when discussing Celestia, ponies, and the concept of harmony when it comes to running a country, we have to remember that they're not necessarily like us.

2313752True, but Celestia seems to prefer imprisonment rather then attempting to reason with her enemies. No trial, no jury. just one thousand years trapped in or on something with no parole. Seems kinda harsh.

2314070 Discord's on parole right now. Celestia left Luna's redemption to ponies who would do it right. Sombra and the Changelings could be considered states of emergency, since they were imprisoning/enslaving the populous and generally causing acts of war. With a state of emergency, the proper trials and such pretty much go on suspension. And we don't see her in states of not-emergency, so it's hard to say if she'd hold trial or not. My best assumption is that she would.

Also, are the 1,000 years Celestia's fault, or is it the way the Elements act? Will we ever know?

I think she's a benevolent dictator. But on the other hoof she listens to the petitions of the nobles and others.

2314107I suppose. I doubt we will ever get to see the Equestrian Bill of Rights. Or any real details on how crime is dealt with. Or maybe we will.

2313222
I tend to think of Celestia as less of a tyrant, but more of a centralized ruler who has been ruling for centuries, feeling the weight of rule. From what we're shown of her in the show, Celestia seems to genuinely care for her subjects and for the well-being of the country, making me believe that she really feels the Chains of Commanding and all the weight and stress that comes with her leadership role. Being a leader ain't a walk in the park, y'know.

2314107
Yep, hit the nail on the head with that one. States of emergency or distress usually call for world leaders to take drastic actions. Abraham Lincoln, for example, had to suspend the right to question your arrest as well as raising an army and diverting funds without permission of Congress during the Civil War. ...Then again, Congress wasn't even in session anymore due to said war.

2314403 My Little Politician: Warrants Are Necessary?
Call Hasbro - it's gonna be a smash hit!

2314403

There just isn't enough evidence for me to decide either way. I agree that she is seemingly ruthless in dealing with opposition, but all of her enemies have been dictatorial in their own actions. Nightmare Moon wanted to raise the moon forever, while ruling for said forever. Discord took control and effectively removed the possible choice of his 'subjects', doing what he wanted whenever he wanted. King sombra... It was stated in the show that he enslaved the inhabitants if the Crystal Kindgom, and the changelings only planned on keeping ponies alive because they could use them to grow stronger. In everysituation, Celestia has defended the rights of the ponies of Equestria. She has also kept the throne almost exclusive to her, and all other royals are technically her family, save for Twilight (who just so happens to be her personal student and friend). Both are logical arguments.

2315939 True, very true

2314813Ponies...the epic parody of Cops, two epic shows fused together. Bad colts bad colts, whatcha gonna do whan they come for you?

2313752
You.

I like you.

No. She isn't. I swear, some people would think using violence to deal with Hitler would be wrong.

You find evil. And then you wipe it off the face of the earth. Nightmare, Discord, Sombra and Chrysalis all deserved exactly what they got.

2313222

I assume others have had this idea, but is Princess Celestia a dictator? She seems to want to crush all who oppose her. Discord, Nightmare Moon, changelings etc. Anypony or anything that challenges her politically, she either imprisons, or exiles.

Nightmare Moon: Attempts to starve people of sunlight which would, in the long term, result in starvation due to the resulting famine.

Discord: Plunged the land into chaos, which, let’s be realistic, would lead to a boatload of what Emile Durkheim termed anomic suicide.

Chrysalis: Ok, this is a gray area. Regardless, she harmed her own people by not having a well-thought-out plan. As a consequentialist, I’ll have to say she got what she deserved.

All I know is that isn't exactly Democracy in action.

Democracy is a mode of decision-making; it has nothing to do with suppression or the lack thereof.

By the way, in The Open Society and Its Enemies, Karl Popper wrote about something called The Paradox of Tolerance:

Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. — In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant.

Suppression of the intolerant -- suppression of those who want to dismantle the democratic society -- is sometimes necessary for the maintenance of said society. The kind of suppression necessary is circumstantial, of course; sometimes dog-piling and shouting down are good enough, other times de-platforming is necessary, and other times outright violence is mandatory.