The Radio/Mediations
Memory 2
The Radio
I remember when I got my cutie mark. It was two days after my birthday, when my parents got me a little ham radio set. They told me I could use it to talk to the whole world.
So I took that little ham radio set and I tried to use it. For two days I tinkered with it, trying to receive and broadcast signals. I tried using my magic to prod at it, try to get its inner workings figured out.
Then, something just clicked. I tapped into that radio and I could see everything. I could see the waves in the air and hear everything that was being broadcast. Every piece of music, every bit of news, every Sunday morning joke show, every traffic and weather report. I could hear them, and at the very center, connected to all of them, was me. I could hear all the voices calling through the air, and every one of them saying the exact same thing:
Listen to me.
Chapter 3
Mediations
Celestia looked over her little committee of advisors. Her sister sat next to her, but she did not see the importance of the meeting.
“I do not see why we should be so concerned about an airship in town, particularly not an airship you sent away,” she said.
“Sometimes things that don’t seem that bad on the surface can be much, much worse underneath,” replied Celestia. “Now, here are the details – earlier today, on the anniversary of the end of humanity, a zeppelin flew over Canterlot. They sent out a broadcast reminding everypony of the date, and accusing me of genocide.”
“Genocide?” asked one of the advisors, a meek, pink earth pony. “What does that mean?”
“It means wiping out an entire genome,” replied one of the other advisors, a bespectacled, light amber unicorn. “Something the humans were very fond of doing to themselves, I should point out.”
“This is beside the point,” said Princess Celestia. “As it is, there are two issues. The first, and most obvious, is the effect this will have on the ponies in Canterlot.”
“I don’t think much will come of it,” said Princess Luna. “Their little speech seemed a bit too cryptic to actually spur anypony to action.”
“I think we can easily counteract their little radio show with a little public education,” said the amber unicorn. “Introduce a little human history in the school curriculum, run a little editorial in the paper. Remind them why the humans are gone. If any of them were questioning after that stunt, they won’t after they’re properly informed. Worst comes to worst, we could go on a few talkshows and dispel anything untowards.”
“Thank you, Decree,” said Celestia with a nod. “As for these ponies, we should try to find out as much as we can about them.”
“What do we know already?” asked Luna.
“The leader is named Firebrand,” said Celestia. “One of their members is named Vox. They’re young ponies, and from what Firebrand said, they have human ancestry.”
Decree snorted. “Figures. That could explain their rather un-ponylike behavior.”
The pink earth pony looked at him. “Huh?”
“Well, all that anger that their little ringleader has,” said Decree. “You’d never see that from a pony. Humans acted like that, though. Got so full of hate at absolutely nothing.”
“But... didn’t the conversions take that away?” asked another advisor. Murmurs went around the table.
“Apparently they weren’t thorough enough.”
“I bet it was the PER,” said one. “They were always sloppy and unprofessional.”
“Don’t talk about the PER,” said Decree. “My great-grandparents were with the PER, and they were instrumental in securing the world we have today. So think twice before you belittle–”
“Gentlestallions!” Luna boomed. “This is unproductive.”
“See if you can find anything,” said Celestia. “I thank you all for this, but I must return to my other royal duties.” She rose from her seat and departed from the chamber. Her sister, however, had other questions for her. She did, thankfully, have the courtesy to wait until they were out of earshot from the advisors.
“This is troubling you about these... protesters,” she said. “I think you may be worrying about them too much.”
“I can sense something,” Celestia said. “Can’t you?”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“I didn’t get to be the ruler of Equestria by having the biggest horn, Luna. There are things I know, or sometimes... sometimes I just know when something is important.”
“And... this 'Firebrand’?” asked Luna. “He is important?”
“I’m not sure. I just know that we haven’t seen the last of his band. I know that something isn’t right.”
“Then what do we do?”
“All we can do right now,” she said, “is try to put the pieces together and act accordingly. And hope, just... hope that things will be alright.”
-
Sweeps the janitor wasn’t really “in” with Firebrand’s whole “White Rose” club. He wasn’t really on-board with the whole “revolt against the princesses” thing, and he understood fairly little about humanity and its end. Unlike the other crew members, he himself did not have human ancestors, so he lacked that personal connection.
But he loved the ship. He’d always wanted to be on a zeppelin, and the chance to fly on one, especially a ship such as the White Rose, was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
He made his way down the hallway, admiring the view out the windows – they were still just flying over open sea, but it was still a breathtaking sight.
At the end of the hall was the engine room. Sweeps could hear the dull hum of the ships engine from behind the door. He ruffled his wings a little – he could only imagine how dirty it might be in there.
There wasn’t any sort of off-limits sign, so he opened the door and peered inside. The engine, which propelled the ship, was roaring, while Cogs kept a watch on it. Her brother, Bolter, was reclining on a bench, enjoying a cola.
True to Sweeps’s expectations, the engine room was filthy, and the two engineers did not seem all that concerned with bathing, as even their brown coats couldn’t hide the dirt and oil.
“Well, heya, Sweeps,” said Bolter. “What brings you to the back end?”
“Oh, nothing,” Sweeps said, shrugging. “Just wanted to see the thing that makes the magic happen.”
“Eh, engine’s not that special,” said Bolter. “Just turns the propellers. The actual flying’s because it’s, well, a big balloon.”
“A very big balloon,” said Cogs.
Sweeps walked in, taking a look around. He marvelled at the contrast between the ships pristine white exterior and the dingy interior.
“Not a whole lot going on here,” said Cogs. “Might not look like much, but she runs well.”
“Makes our job seem more like a ride sometimes,” said Bolter.
“Heh,” chuckled Sweeps. “Yeah, I’m just along for a ride, too.”
Bolter took another drink of cola. “Yeah, you’re not, uh...”
“Not a human descendant, no,” said Sweeps.
“Ah,” said Bolter.
Sweeps sat down on what seemed like the least dusty section of the bench. “So... that’s why you’re here?”
“Huh?” asked Bolter.
“On this whole, um...” Sweeps looked for a delicate way to put it. “This ‘cause.’ Against Princess Celestia.”
“And Luna,” corrected Cogs.
“Well... what made you want to do this?” asked Sweeps.
Bolter finished off the rest of his cola. “Well, y’know Twilight Sparkle?”
“Princess Celestia’s old student?”
“That’s the one,” said Bolter. “I saw some really old archive footage of her speaking at one of the old Conversion Bureaus.”
“What’re those?” asked Sweeps.
“They were the old buildings,” said Cogs, “where the humans were turned into ponies. I’m gonna go get some more soda, k?”
“Sure,” said Bolter as Cogs left the engine room.
“Oh, okay...” said Sweeps. “But what about Twilight Sparkle?”
“Well,” Bolter continued, “I saw an old archived film of a speech she gave. Basically, she was talking about how humans are vain and stupid and greedy and how the people there made the right choice by converting.”
Bolter’s voice had gone low, and he kept looking at his cola bottle, as though wishing there were more in it. He gave a bitter chuckle.
“Y’know, it’s funny,” said Bolter. “It was at that point that I realized that I’d never been more angry in my life. I’d never really hated anything before that.”
“So you hated her?”
“Well, I hated what she was saying,” said Bolter. “I’m amazed they all didn’t get up and march right out of the room at that. History books sure never mentioned Twilight Sparkle being a racist. Guess it’s because there isn’t anypony left to complain.”
“Well, except you folks.”
“Mm-hmm.”
The door swung open and Cogs re-entered, carrying a pack of sodas.
“Next town we stop in we need groceries,” she said. “Assuming we get to a town anytime soon. Nice of the princess to leave us stranded over the water.”
“Say...” said Bolter. “Cogs, Sweeps here isn’t familiar with our old human traditions. I think tonight would be a good chance.”
“Huh?” asked Sweeps.
“I think that tonight we should indulge in that timeless human ritual,” said Bolter. “Movie night!”
-
Signal stood at the door to the bridge. The captain’s eyes were glued straight ahead as he guided the ship forward.
“Well,” she said. “Where are we going now?”
“I don’t know,” said Firebrand. “Stranded us in the middle of nowhere... you hearing anything?”
“Just usual radio stuff,” she said with a shrug. “Nothing that really tells us where we are. So we just gonna... keep going forward?”
“Unless someone has a better idea,” said Firebrand. “Just keep listening. See if you can find some sort of... near-local thing that’ll tell us where we are. Or any news about us. Definitely make sure you keep track of everything anypony says about us. That’s what’s important...” He mused. “So keep that horn of yours tuned. And as soon as we come across some civilization make sure Vox and Wordsworth are ready to give a broadcast.”
“Aye aye, captain,” she replied before turning to leave.
“Hey, captain,” said Bolter. “Any luck?”
“Not really,” said Firebrand. “Nothing as far as I can see.”
“Dang,” said Bolter.
“Engine running fine?”
“Yeah, fine,” said Bolter. “Say, uh, we were thinking of having a movie night. I mean, Cogs and I have some old film reels and we thought it’d be something fun to do...” There was a pause. “Cap’n?”
“Hold on...” Firebrand saw something poking up over the horizon: a tower of some sort. Had they finally come across solid ground? “I think we might’ve found something that isn’t water,” he said. “Yeah, movie night. We can do that. Anyway, stay on the line. We might be getting ready for a landing.” He gripped the steering wheel, grinning.
-
Decree stopped for a spot of tea at a local cafe. He surveyed the other ponies around them. They were going about their business as though everything were normal, and nothing had happened earlier that day. He smiled and took a sip. Seemed that everything would be absolutely fine. In all honesty, he didn’t know why Princess Celestia seemed concerned.
Those ponies on the zeppelin were just some whiny little malcontents. They popped up every now and again, young ponies hit by a surge of self-importance, just looking for something to complain about. And oh, they decided to complain about the end of humanity. He rolled his eyes and looked up at the sky.
It was a beautiful day. The sky was as blue as it could be, painted lightly with cirrus and dotted with birds. Occasionally a pegasus child or two would dark out across the blue, but that was a welcome little bit of excitement. Not like that blimp, which sat in the sky like a big pretentious cloud. He couldn’t understand why those ponies wanted to ruin such a fine day for everypony else...
Decree got up and walked over to a newspaper vendor. The little colt was ecstatic when Decree tossed a spare bit to him, but the royal advisor was not pleased to see the aforementioned pretentious cloud in a big spread on the front page. He’d gotten the late edition. Snorting in disgust, he opened it to the more mundane news – opening of museums, local contests, those sorts of things.
He shook his head. Thinking about the protesters just irritated him. As did a flower display he saw out of the corner of his eye. A mare was happily at work in her flower stall, with a tray of white roses prominently featured.
“What,” he said, “is that?”
The mare blinked at him. “Roses,” she said. “What do they look like?”
“Why are you carrying them?”
“Well, lots of ponies like roses,” she said. “They think they’re romantic. Besides, I carry lots of flowers – roses, lilies, lilacs, iris. I’m partial to iris, myself,” she giggled as she looked at her cutie mark, which bore the image of that flower. “I just thought to myself, what with that blimp that came in today–”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I just thought ‘white roses.’ I haven’t carried those in a while, and since I was thinking of them I decided it was a nice flower. I’m sure a lot of ponies might be thinking of them, too.” She closed her eyes and smiled. “Good for business.”
Decree snorted in disgust and walked on.
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Been watching this one with interest; thanks for the update! I'm eager to see what happens in the future.
Also, just wanted to say that I liked a little subtlety I noticed about Celestia's staff meeting. They talked quite a bit about the crew of the White Rose and how the situation should be handled, but never at any point during the meeting did any of the assembled actually stop to consider whether Firebrand raised any legitimate points, or try to deny it. Celestia herself was the only one who even brought up what they actually said, and she quickly brushed it aside as irrelevant, which seems pretty damn callous. Sounds to me like a group who has so much invested in the status quo, they refuse to even consider anything else.
Kind of funny really. The thing I liked most about this chapter isn't what was said but what was not said. Anyway, keep up the good work!
Awesome, and yes, no sir, I do not like either the PER (sloppy and unprofessional being an understatement), and I'm already starting to not like Decree either, and Tinandel did make a good point about wither or not Firebrand was making any points, but after reading a few other TCB fics.....yeah, but at least Sweeps seems kinda cool.
That being said, I can't wait for the fourth chapter!
"“Genocide?” asked one of the advisors, a meek, pink earth pony. “What does that mean?”
“It means wiping out an entire genome,” replied one of the other advisors, a bespectacled, light amber unicorn. “Something the humans were very fond of doing to themselves, I should point out.”"
*eye twitch* Fuuuuuuuuuuuu-! Gah! Genocide is the destruction of an entire racial, religious, or political group! What Hitler did to the Jews was genocide. Destruction of an entire species is xenocide! I mentioned this last time!
Wording aside, I enjoyed this chapter though I did find Celestia disregarding what the ponies had to say about humanity to be a bit callous as Tinandel mentioned above. I'm hoping we'll get to see some of these machines brought to light that caused the expansion of magic. And I really hope somepony calls Celestia out for her destruction of humanity.
500891
Eh. Stories with multiple sentient species have used the word "genocide" in that context. Doctor Who, for example. Besides, "xenocide" isn't a word that people generally use, and it just doesn't sound quite as damning, which is what Firebrand & co. are going for.
Etymologically, I think I got the definition right in that bit of dialogue, at least. "Killing of a genome."
501120 Stories using it in that fashion don't make it the correct usage. It's not a common word, but it is the proper word. I've checked several sites for the definition before (Criminal Justice classes has some odd projects) and none even mention destruction of a genome as a definition. And xenocide doesn't sound as damning? What the hell? If someone's genocidal there's likely to be several culture left standing. If someone's xenocidal an entire species is gone. A species. As in every single member of Homo Sapien Sapien is gone. Again the most famous case of genocide, the holocaust was 6 million people dead. If xenocide were to happen to humanity now, that'd be over 7 billion. The meaning is in the definition. The literal worst case is omnicide. Not a very threatening word unless you know what it means.
"Basically, she was talking about how humans are vain and stupid and greedy and how the people there made the right choice by converting."
I read about Greece, today. It is the first of the European nations to default, to go bankrupt. People are being thrown out on the streets, old women, children, everyone is starving, most are homeless. The complete collapse of a major nation. It happened because the nation, and its people all took out massive debt in order to live a rich lifestyle far beyond their means entirely on credit - like everyone in the First World. The credit ran out, and they weren't able to elect anyone who would tell the bankers to shove it (like Iceland did.)
America is in exactly the same boat, being bankrupt as a nation roughly four times over. It stays afloat, selling debt to itself, because the rest of the world can't afford to stop accepting US money, even though it is worthless, because they all did exactly the same thing, and if the US falls, they all fall too.
All the while this real stuff is happening, most Americans, like those in Greece before they collapsed, only know what they see on television, and that is entirely silly shows about pretty, mindless celebrities filled with advertisements for expensive luxury goods that can be bought... on credit. Meanwhile, nearly a fifth of everyone in the US is jobless and/or homeless and/or hungry.
And while all of THIS is going on, the greatest single extinction of animal and plant life in the history of the world, bigger even than the Devonian, according to new forms of accounting, is going on right now, all because we scrape and rape resources while breeding like flies and taking habitat for ourselves at the cost of the survival of the planet itself.
And even all of THAT is just the tip of how messed up things are.
Fortunately, American Idol is on. I can't wait to watch it on my big-screen TV.
I bought it on credit, of course.
Oh, did I mention the one-hundred wars that currently exist at any given moment on Earth? It's not that important.
How did this start? Oh yeah. GO HUMANITY! Those darn ponies, coming in and saying we're greedy, stupid and vain. They are so, so wrong.
I am loving the story, though.
502250
You raise a valid point - not one I agree with, but a logically valid one - but the question then is this: Why isn't Celestia saying the exact same thing? Why not stand up in front of Firebrand and say, "Yes, I destroyed humanity because they deserved it and I'm not sorry?" Instead, she promptly ignores every word he says and shuts him down with brute force - first by teleporting him away, then by instructing the authorities to arrest him if he is seen again. You don't orchestrate coverups for causes you believe are righteous.
If she really believes her actions were so justified, why won't she own up to them?
Ten'll get you twenty that when Celestia came asking Dylan to reconsider taking the potion, it had nothing to do with her wanting him to be happy. What she wanted was the implicit approval of the last remaining human, someone who knew of her plans and accepted her solution anyway. If Dylan had converted, even knowing what he apparently knew, it would have been humanity saying to Celestia, "You were right, we deserve this." Instead, by refusing, Dylan sent a clear message: "No matter how much you sugarcoat it, what you did was unforgivable. And you are going to carry that weight."
The problem here isn't the ponies wiping out humanity. The problem is them utterly refusing to accept responsibility for it.
Of course, we don't know the full picture yet. Maybe Dylan was tragically misled? Maybe Celestia poisoned the human world because in some way, she had no choice? Maybe Firebrand is jumping to all sorts of wrong conclusions? We'll just have to wait and see where the author is going with this to learn more... but in the meantime, the way Celestia is handling the situation is NOT making her look any less guilty.
502250
"only know what they see on television, and that is entirely silly shows about pretty, mindless celebrities filled with advertisements for expensive luxury goods that can be bought... on credit. Meanwhile, nearly a fifth of everyone in the US is jobless and/or homeless and/or hungry."
Excuse me? This comment is so unbelievably mis-informed. I'm sorry but you canNOT be serious right now. Do you seriously immerse yourself into MLP and the brony fanbase then complain that there's nothing quality on tv and that we, as a species, never look at ourselves deeply?
I'm not sure if you are aware but based on your highly misinformed opinion I'm going to bet you're not familiar with a channel called HBO. You might have heard of it because it's actually an important channel with a lot of amazing shows that take a deep look into mankind and society for better or for worse. In Treatment, The Pacific, Band of Brothers, Too Big to Fall, The Wire, Game of Thrones, Treme, and millions of other shows that has had the balls to look at humanity in the face and present it to you in your little box.
My good madam. You cannot act so hypocritical as to enjoy an escapist show aimed at little girls, then say society sucks and everything sucks when you have never even experienced a single realist show from HBO. Because that is the equivalent of burring your head in the sand and ignoring everything else in the world just so you can live in your own little bubble. And this isn't just an HBO thing too. Sci-fi's Battlestar Galactica, Showtime's The Tudors, FOX's The Shield. Shows that isn't about escapism and throws reality for better or for worse right in your face. If you don't have the brains, patience, or will to sit through these shows on tv or atleast try to watch a drama HBO show then you do not have the warrant to go to a community about an escapist show and complain that humanity does not "create anything worthwhile".
I may be a bit too much of an HBO fanboy, but excuse my intolerance of misinformed opinions when it comes to our society's media. For every, American Idol or Jeresy Shore, there is an In Treatment or The Wire. If you are such an expert on "human corruption" i DARE you to switch a channel to HBO and stop watching ponies because this is NOT the place to discuss (or in your case, complain) about humanity's tribulations. Or to complain about escapism. Am I the only one here that finds it ironic that there's bronies complaining about our society's over indulgence into escapism WHEN THEY ARE BRONIES THEMSELVES?!
Guys, I think we're getting a little out of hand here, we are all bronies & we're all human, so let's stop this pointless argument. What Celestia did was neither good nor evil because in the end those are just words that carry little actual weight. Each side in a war will claim that the other is evil & attempt to dehumanize them (literally in this case) in an attempt to justify their actions. Humanity is a neutral force capable of both compassion & cruelty but if you try comparing that to a race of pacifistic ponies that have never known real war than we appear to be monsters. Not all of humanity is the cesspool that chatoyance claims it is & I don't need to watch HBO to know that. Furthermore, I think the reason celestia always tends to feel guilty about this is that she didn't give humanity a choice in the matter. In the TCB universe you either convert or you die from the theumatic radiation from the barrier, some people didn't convert, so she feels responsible for their deaths.
-sincerely, Chaos Smoog
502902
Thank you for that. It made my day. Well said!
I don't think anyone else got it, but I did.
Oh Celsestia, what have you done?
502119
Well, then, I guess I dun look like an idiot. I'll be sure not to do that in the future.
506097 I know the feeling. May know properly word and have an extensive grasp of the english lexicon......can't break myself of saying 'ain't'.
"And while all of THIS is going on, the greatest single extinction of animal and plant life in the history of the world, bigger even than the Devonian, according to new forms of accounting, is going on right now, all because we scrape and rape resources while breeding like flies and taking habitat for ourselves at the cost of the survival of the planet itself."
Ok, let me stop you right there. Even without human intervention, at least 1 species goes extinct per year. With humans yes, it's far higher than normal, but it is not the greatest extinction on the planet. The Permian extinction annihilated about 90% of marine species and about 70% of terrestrial species and that was completely natural. I do not know why you have such a dim view on your species, but humanity isn't all about beating puppies.
503175
"but if you try comparing that to a race of pacifistic ponies that have never known real war than we appear to be monsters."
I think this is a good reason why a lot of TCB bronies have a very bleak view on humanity. Which, I have to be very honest, personally annoys me because MLP and the brony fandom is not a good measuring tool for humanity and the show's point is escapism which is to get as far away from humanity's problems as possible.
I said this before and I'll say this now. You cannot immerse yourself in escapist media and then start making blanket statements about "how much humanity sucks" because MLP says absolutely nothing about humanity's problems. Sure, director Woody Allen had said that escapism is intrinsically tied to reality. But shows like MLP make absolutely no direct comment on the human condition and society's problems. That's why sometimes I wish bronies would just enjoy MLP on that level that is an escapist absurdest comedy instead of suddenly using it as a gold standard to how humanity should be.
If you want to get deep or philosophical about humanity, watch HBO and talk to the HBO fanbase and keep that away from MLP because you'll only develop a warped view of society and life if you take MLP so seriously as to treat it like The Analects. If you don't have any interest in tv dramas that shove reality in your face because "its too boring" or "it's too depressing" then don't drag your malcontent "humanity sucks" attitude into MLP.
You want to talk about humanity's greed and corporate corruption?
There's a miniseries called "Too Big to Fall" for that
You want to talk about war and pain and suffering?
There's both Band of Brothers and The Pacific for that
You want to talk about gang crime?
There's a show called The Wire for that
Why do you have to drag all of this into MLP and bronies? At the risk of sounding snobby, you really can't make grandiose statements about life if your only tv experience is within cartoon network and the hub. Do you need media experience to understand life and humanity? Of course not. But the way some bronies act around here makes me wonder if they might learn a thing or two from channels like HBO.
506365
Well what you say may be true, HBO doesn't have any ponies. Nuff' said.
506641
Enjoy MLP for what it is Chaos. Just don't assume you can attain the meaning to life or the answer to our society's problems just from ponies ;)
506669
Good sir, I am a nihilist. I don't believe life has (or even needs) a meaning. Life is a beautiful, wonderful thing & we need to enjoy it well we can instead of constantly trying to find some deep, philosophical purpose for our existence. If society stopped worrying much about personal status or contemplating what comes after life then maybe world peace wouldn't be so far fetched an idea. As for the answer to society's problems? I say the politicians who come from wealthy, prestigious families & never feel the repercussions of their actions should step down & let the average citizens make the decisions that influence their lives. Furthermore, ponies can INDEED solve everything & to say otherwise is blasphemy against the brony bible. Don't worry though, I'll send you a postcard on the moon.
503671
Hi, I'm Chaos... big fan.
Adds his thumbs-up
Frankly, if I was in this 'verse, I would be extremely angry with the double-dealing that lead up to these events.
To me, this story is exactly -why- I had such a problem with the original narrative, because I saw the actions taken to be gross short-cuts bordering on cheating.
510043
Ironic that you are a nihilist because:
"we need to enjoy it well we can instead of constantly trying to find some deep, philosophical purpose for our existence. If society stopped worrying much about personal status or contemplating what comes after life then maybe world peace wouldn't be so far fetched an idea."
This isn't a new idea. The idea that "life shouldn't need a purpose and we should live in the now and less about what we will become" is a very stereotypical Chinese philosophy that came out of Tao and Buddhism centuries before Christianity even became a major influence in Western society. You claim to reject all morality and religious philosophies (cause that's what a nihilist is) yet you promote a philosophy that is typical for traditional Chinese and (to a lesser degree but Zen touches upon this too) Japanese philosophies.
Furthermore, the world's pain and suffering stems from a very wide range of historical problems that is specific within a culture. Since you made the blanket statement that "there would be more peace if people just started living in the now to enjoy life", that's something the Chinese pushed in ancient history. That obviously hasn't worked for them. How do you form peace between the Chinese and the Japanese when the Chinese claim to have had war crimes committed against them and the Japanese deny it? How do you solve racism in Japan and China against the Koreans, who have been looked down upon and faced prejudice against the two for centuries (not an exaggeration).
How do you tell Israel or Palestine to give up a location that both sought out due to religious importance. Is it fair to give the ME to Israel or to Palestine? Based on what? When and at what point does historical right become negligible and who draws that line?
"let the average citizens make the decisions that influence their lives."
This happened in China. It was called the Communist revolution. This also happened in Cambodia... and the "commoner's" response was to kill anyone who had an education. Do you see the problem with blanket statements? This sounds super obvious but it must be stated. People are drastically different across cultures and across historical differences. What works for American might be disastrous for non-Americans and vise versa. I don't believe in a world of absolute truths. Which is partially why MLP is escapist because MLP IS a world of absolute truths. That's the purpose of a large portion of escapist works. To make the world simple and black and white so the audience can immerse themselves in a world with problems easy to fix.
So excuse me while I rip up the pony bible
510379
oh, I like this guy. Wait, you tore up the brony bible?! Why you little [the remaining portion of this message has been deemed too graphic to be shown on this website, we apologize for the inconvenience.].
510677
*starts peeing on the shreds*
510724
I'd punch you, but it's considered dishonorable to hit little girls.
510793
Well... I'm actually a girl in real life so... *craps on the shreds*
510801
Young miss, their is no need for such blatant vulgarity on a website dedicated to love & tolerance. I find it to be both insulting & offensive.
I'm just going to throw my two bits in on Billy's use of the word "Genocide".
The deliberate killing of a large group of people, esp. those of a particular ethnic group or nation.
By google's top-level definition of the word, Billy's not wrong, and Sithis is just being exceptionally picky. Keep on using the word the way you are, Billy.
I quite enjoy this story, and I'm glad Billy's writing it; it's a good look at an Equestria post-Conversion Bureaus.
510379
Educated people like you are exciting to come across. Your response to whomever (i only read your comment) begs the question, "what do you think of Socialism and how it interacts with the modern world?" What i mean by this is, if there were a massive push towards it, what would happen? How would people react? How would they adapt to it? I am asking for what you think on the subject. If you find yourself not caring about my questions (and i admit it may very well be selfish of me in some sense to be asking this of you) then simply say so and I will drop it, and not hold it against you.
531159
A bit of an odd place to discuss ponies and socialism (assuming all this is serious that is :P). I could write an essay on why I think the goal to seek a "world without social class" is a silly one. But I will just say this: there will always be those that have and those that have not.
It's just a natural state of being amongst a collective. Some people just have and some do not and you can work to change that but the entire world will never be an equal ground.
If you take the majority of the money from the rich and give it to the poor... you didn't solve anything. You just created a new class of rich and new class of poor. And guess what... I'm willing to bet the new rich will abuse the new poor as well...
Let's go to extreme totalitarian socialist countries shall we? Ok, let's say that a country's food industry doesn't exist and it's completely operated by the government... well who (or whom) is specifically in charge? We easily label "governments" as this big abstract collective entity but we forget that people occupy governments just as much as people occupy the lower class. Well who, within that government, controls food distribution? Whoever that is... THAT person now has the power over many as he gets to decide where the food goes and where it doesn't. Thus, once people find out who that is... they will bribe... and those who can bribe will raise themselves above those who cannot... etc... etc... etc.. and it's practically back to an uneven social order once again.
An anthropologist once said. "You don't gain something in this world, without someone losing something." It's really that simple. If you set yourself to an advantage... that means someone's at a disadvantage... that's the entire point of setting yourself to an advantage and humans. No... LIFE!! in general will always do that. How many times have I seen a hungry dog get denied a dinner just because the alpha wolf hasn't eaten yet?
This isn't a human thing... it's merely a state of being. Sure, we can work to diminish differences in social classes (which is why I'm not automatically 100% against socialist policies). But a complete and absolute removal of social class will never happen as long as there's an ambition to improve your own state of being.
Honestly... the entire push for "a more socialist society" is really just down to the lower class who want to be the upper class. The lower class wants more money, and they want to increase their advantage over others, just as much as Libertarian capitalist conservatives want the world to continue the way it is because they do not want to suddenly become disadvantaged as they are in control of the corporations and money.
Politics is less about what's best for society and more about "as long as I get what I want that's all that matters". Quite frankly, it's also down to just human psychology, which is why I believe that many of the anti-humanity TCBs authors don't really understand what it means and what it takes to continue a state of being.
Sure, ponies are a "state of being" that do not suffer from this problem. But honestly, let's think about this... who takes care of the ponies? Most of their typical needs are just assumed to have been taken care of. They always have enough money to eat, they always have enough money to buy Applejack's cider, they always live comfortable lives with things that (likely cost a lot of money) provided for them. It's almost like we're watching a kid's show.... oh wait....
It's very difficult to bring reality to a kid's escapist show, and I've yet to find an author that does it so fantastically that it makes me ponder our own existence harder... and no "I wish I was in MLP" is not pondering your own existence intelligently.
Now... for the problems on unbridled capitalism... HBO's Too Big to Fall and the oscar nominated movie, Margin Call, can present that problem much better than I ever can ;) So if you're legitimately interested in such social problems. Go and please support the artists who have done a lot with a difficult subject.
I think Celestia may be hiding something.
I wonder if Sweeps is a mole... Hopefully, they'll reveal the truth and shove everything right in the Equestrian population's face.
Keep writing!
And to everyone complaining about the state of the Earth compared to Equestria, really? Those two are not comparable Equestria's weather and geological cycles are pony controlled and the Equestrians get guidance from from two divinities and don't get me started on some of the monsters that Equestria has. Humanity got to a fairly high tech society without divine help and with wild weather and geological cycles. To me, that's like a child building a perfectly functional B-2 Spirit stealth bomber in the garage with no outside help and while still going to school. Sure some buildings were blown up and some collateral damage occured but still amazing things occurred.
560392 "Those two are not comparable Equestria's weather and geological cycles are pony controlled and the Equestrians get guidance from from two divinities"
<TCB fan mode>But see, that just PROVES the ponies are superior to humans and are therefore entitled to kill everyone!</TCB fan mode>
I'd like to propose a theme song for this fic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZul_mSFczs
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That is correct. Student group that dropped a lot of leaflets in an intellectual resistance campaign.
I saw the name and that it looked cool. To my shame, in bad taste I appropriated the name and the broad strokes of the idea for my story about cartoon horses.
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Seems fitting, how about this one?