Is magical talking hooved animal world as great as we think?

[ManaMinori 4,144]

Is Equestria (and whatever world the country exists in) really as perfect world as we seem to think it is?

 

Granted, it's far better than our world, where people of the same species go to war and just kill each other for nonsensical shit on a day to day basis, where technology and media is used to manipulate, politicians are corrupt, media (from movies to music) endorses violence and lust, and money and the wealthy blind and fuck people over, and everything else shitty the human world consists of (thanks to humanity)....but I mean, Equestria has its share of shitty as well......

 

There's bullies (Diamond Taira, Gilda), con-ponies (the Flim-Flam Brothers), all the diseases and problems the brothers mentioned and showed off in the “Miracle curative tonic” episode, bad guys constantly showing up and wrecking things and disrupting the peace or stealing ponies' powers, dark magic, and just plain unicorn/ alicorn non-dark magic “reformation”/ mind controlling spells, power corrupted ponies (Sunset shimmer, Nightmare moon, Chrysalis), spiteful, out of control ponies (Trixie) and all that to be wary of. And even without Pinkie's presence, ponies are shown to be just plain grumpy and rude and irritable to each other. ): (Magical Mystery Cure)

 

Even in past MLP generations, shit got pretty dark and corrupt. For instance, just one example- G1's "The Prince and the Ponies" episode was kinda dark. Spiteful ponies wishing their own kind (baby ponies) got turned into monsters, chased by lightning, put in collars and treated as pets)- which unsurprisingly, does happen, later, when a little brat girl has all 4 baby ponies wearing iron collars with chains, and yanking them back, when they try crawling away, like some cruel, abusive puppy (pony) owner.

 

Still, I think I'd have to pick Equestria over Earth, if I ever (miraculously) had the option of nullifying my human life and history, turning back the clock, and being born as a candy colored pony in Equestria.

 

Equestria (or whatever name the actual world- not country- is called) or Earth?

 

go ahead and discuss

Edited November 10, 2014 by Nightmare Muffin

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

Equestria would probably be a nicer place than our world. Most of the problems that world has are pretty tame compared to our world, and the really big problems can be solved with The Magic of Friendship. A Friendship Hadouken isn't really an option in our world and the solutions to major problems are not going to be very cut and dry and probably involve a lot of moral ambiguity and suffering.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

Their society may have problems, but we have seen no signs of the most serious things that inflict ours. No rape, no murder, no poverty, to name a few. Sure there are childhood bullies, but the ponies don't have racism (specism?) 

They seem to live in complete harmony.

[PROJECT: Simon 3,953]

Of course Equestria is better than our world. 

 

Our world is just...... gah

 

Robbers, crimes, blood, etc.

 

But Equestria

 

Friendship, MOAR FOOD, magic and kindness. 

[smitty121325 64]

I would choose Equestria over Earth any day. For one thing, the technology in Equestria is very limited, so you're pretty much forced to go out and socialize with others. For another thing, a lot of the problems that Earth has (religion, politics, war, etc) don't seem to inhabit Equestria. And Ponyville is so friendly and welcoming that you'd be crazy to not want to live there.

[Rainboom Dash 1,055]

Equestria is still more awesome than Earth. You have more chances to make friends and there's magic everywhere.

[Shimmer Down 668]

A Friendship Hadouken isn't really an option in our world...

We need to get science on this stat.

 

I'll admit, while it is a show written and designed for young girls, it's problems seem trivial to that of our world and the solutions much simpler. Though if you think about it, there's the monarchy that has a tactical friendship nuke at it's beck and call. I'm not saying Celestia is evil or has the power to be, but it does seem a tad oppressive when you analyze it by human standards.

[Argumedies 1,748]

Oh yay.. A great place to live... Until the chickens turn you to stone

[Wind Chaser 4,767]

Equestria is only a good place if you're a female pony. If you're a male, you'll have significantly less opportunity, and if you aren't a pony, you're inferior to the incorruptible, pure Pony Master Race and you're either a monster or a slave.

 

Don't even get me started on what the whole cutie marks and life purpose thing is. You're ridiculed if you don't have a place in life, and since no adult in the show has been seen to be a blank flank, it makes the issue a bit more concerning. Also, we've never seen a pony unhappy with their cutie mark, and we've never seen one whose talent went unappreciated.

 

Better the devil you know than the devil you don't. Unless I see some real progress, I'm sticking with our sad, messed up world for now.

[Everleaf 541]

Yes, I suppose though if you compare Equestria to our world I cannot consider it worse OR as bad as the place we live in now, okay even if Equestria may have it's (dark side)

 

though we go though war and possible other stuff Equestria would likely never come to.

[Bright Bastion 241]

I think of ti like this. Yeah Equestria is a much better place to live, but Equestria is also not a very realistic place. On top of that if anyone can just go to a magical world of ponies then you would start seeing problems from our world spark in equestria. For the sake of ponies, we probably shouldn't go to their world, and spoil it with the problems of our world.

[Zejgar 25]

Even in past MLP generations, shit got pretty dark and corrupt.

 

Not in G3.

Unicornia, Breezie Blossom, Butterfly Island and other locations of G3 are pretty much perfect in terms of tranquility. Literally everybody is friendly, celebrations galore, the nature is beautiful, architecture is nice to look at - paradise, I say!

Edited November 10, 2014 by Zejgar

[baltosaa 86]

Yeah, but all these cons about Equestria are not nearly as often as they are here...

Equestria seems like a great place to me.

[Invincible 2,090]

First of all, Equestria has magic, that's pretty cool right there - but that's beside the point.

 

The world is over-abundant with food, water, natural resources. Had a group of humans found their way into Equestria, they would thrive on the riches and spread like bacteria. On the other hand, we have our world, which is already on the cusp of death because of war, radiation, pollution, our kind's expansion so rapid that it's killing off the planet.

 

Our diseases, if compared to what was seen on the show, are lethal and dangerous, the prime causes of death in our world. The wildlife seen in the show is diverse and dangerous, but is confined to wild enclaves such as the Everfree forest. Our natural landscapes, some of which are barren wastelands or are terrible mountain ranges where nothing grows, are prone to danger and are inhospitable compared to some of what Equestria has to offer.

 

The human world would potentially thrive on Equestria.

[A goat 323]

 

 

Granted, it's far better than our world

 

I don't know about that, there are probably alot more fucked-up stuff that goes on in equestria than the show lets on.

[ManaMinori 4,144]

Not in G3.

Unicornia, Breezie Blossom, Butterfly Island and other locations of G3 are pretty much perfect in terms of tranquility. Literally everybody is friendly, celebrations galore, the nature is beautiful, architecture is nice to look at - paradise, I say!

I'll agree with that (save for one episode that had a dragon controlling the weather) It would be pretty nice to live in g3's time, as a pony. Paradise, indeed.

[mindcrime beats 6]

I am very torn between this. Equestria is a nice place, but it gets torn up alot. Earth maybe corrupted, but it has its perks (Technology, city's, etc.). But if Equestria came to earth it could be a little paradise, unless its xenoquestria then no. So all in all, I am torn.

[Hive King 1,998]

In the real world, a singular person can't actually destroy every member of the planet's life under their own power(Nightmare Moon). Nor is there a race of rapists who can take imitate loved ones(Changelings). Nor are there crazy spirits that cause enormous collateral damage(Discord). Nor are there magic spells that can turn an okay person into a mad tyrant(Alicorn Amulet, Element of Magic, The Book). 

 

Earth has many problems that occur more frequently(one could make the argument that crime is there, just not seen in the show), but when Equestria has problems, they're far worse, given the context of the show. Hell, even Twilight gets in on it, forcibly brainwashing ponies just because she's stressed out over a deadline. Imagine another pony snapping like that, the chaos and violence would be enormous. 

I am very torn between this. Equestria is a nice place, but it gets torn up alot. Earth maybe corrupted, but it has its perks (Technology, city's, etc.). But if Equestria came to earth it could be a little paradise, unless its xenoquestria then no. So all in all, I am torn.

All Equestrias are Xenoequestria, being aliens. I know what you mean though(Celestia being the Anti-Christ, glassing the Earth, and going on a self righteous speech about how ponies have no moral faults)

[silvadel 1,393]

Equestria is only a good place if you're a female pony. If you're a male, you'll have significantly less opportunity, and if you aren't a pony, you're inferior to the incorruptible, pure Pony Master Race and you're either a monster or a slave.

 

Don't even get me started on what the whole cutie marks and life purpose thing is. You're ridiculed if you don't have a place in life, and since no adult in the show has been seen to be a blank flank, it makes the issue a bit more concerning. Also, we've never seen a pony unhappy with their cutie mark, and we've never seen one whose talent went unappreciated.

 

Better the devil you know than the devil you don't. Unless I see some real progress, I'm sticking with our sad, messed up world for now.

 

That is because any pony who doesn't get a cutie mark by adulthood DISAPPEARS.  This is why the CMC are unconsciously so afraid of not having their marks yet -- on some level they KNOW.

[ManaMinori 4,144]

That is because any pony who doesn't get a cutie mark by adulthood DISAPPEARS.  This is why the CMC are unconsciously so afraid of not having their marks yet -- on some level they KNOW.

I've been saying this for a while, and I'll say it again. I still want to see DHX tackle the topic of an adult pony without a cutie mark, and them (and everypony else) being totally ok with it, and the lesson of some ponies or people taking a bit longer to discover what they're meant to do in life, or sometimes, never finding it at all, even.

[Silver Letter 1,830]

It probably better than we think it is. It's not perfect by any means but it is as close to perfect as a civilization is going to get.

I still want to see DHX tackle the topic of an adult pony without a cutie mark,

I never assumed that such a thing would exist All ponies get cutie marks.

[Toaster Bot 183]

Magical talking hooved animal world is a pretty lovely society, even though they're COMMUNIST PIGS (my theory holds water, plus I don't actually care about communism one way or another). The thing about magical talking hooved world is that it's an idealized fictional world, but the canon has all sorts of cans of worms to it. Some of the possible fates in this universe (say, if Discord decides to drop the idiot ball, or any other minute thing happens), the consequences can be at an "And I Must Scream" level of screwed. Sure, the magical talking hooved animal world has a lot of pluses to it, but the factors that you are capable of being subjected to are a bit too worrisome. At least here on good old scientific talking ape world the most we have to worry about is all the apocalypse rockets exploding everything.

 

Nothing like making a children's television show darker and edgier, am I right?

[Roughshod 719]

Though if you think about it, there's the monarchy that has a tactical friendship nuke at it's beck and call. I'm not saying Celestia is evil or has the power to be, but it does seem a tad oppressive when you analyze it by human standards.

I'm glad someone else has actually addressed this on these forums.

 

The fact that Celestia and her fellow princesses supposedly rule Equestria despite their general lack of ability to protect it well as the absence of any proof of governing ability strikes me as odd. Sure they've always saved it at the last moment, but wouldn't a truly effective leader prevent those crises from emerging in the first place? I have to believe that they may be more like figureheads when it comes to the day to day business of ruling a nation, signing laws and making official statements but leaving the nitty-gritty stuff to the bureaucrats and officials.

 

 

I also find it strange that they should have the authority to rule all of ponydom simply because they might raise a celestial object or have a close connection to royalty. Originally it was all the unicorns who raised the sun and moon but they didn't exert any authority over the earth ponies or the pegasi.

 

Think about it, what real justification is there for handing over an ancient empire to Princess Cadance and Shining Armor? Besides their barrier abilities they should have practically nothing to offer as leaders.

 

Bad writing and sloppy world building if you ask me. Not to mention obnoxious corporate oversight and mandates.

 

Equestria is only a good place if you're a female pony. If you're a male, you'll have significantly less opportunity, and if you aren't a pony, you're inferior to the incorruptible, pure Pony Master Race and you're either a monster or a slave.

This is also true. Stallions don't seem to have many leadership positions in Equestria as we've seen it. The official rulers of Equestria are all female and it has apparently been that way for a millennium. I think that would have to have some impact on the perception of genders in their society when only mares seem to be able to attain immortality and goddess like power.

 

As it stands there are currently two princes, one is simply the husband of a princess who co-rules an empire but doesn't have his own throne and the other is the nephew of Celestia and a snobbish lout. The mayor of Ponyville is female, the elements of harmony are all female, any foreign male leader such as the representative from Saddle Arabia or the the Duke of Maretonia are always accompanied by female colleagues and the only major historical male leader was not only portrayed as a tyrant but also the only villain thus far to be killed.

 

 

What the buck?

Edited November 12, 2014 by Roughshod

[Vixor 80]

I think Equestria's society is pretty benevolent. Not perfect, sure, but good nonetheless. Of course, the specifics elude us because the show doesn't often give us much in the way of details when it comes to stuff like that.
 

There is the issue of it being a world full of magic and other such things though, which can be both a good and bad thing; magic has it's benevolent and malevolent applications. The occaisonal incursion of dangerous creatures or villains certainly isn't good, but those seem to be dealt with easily enough, and then things return to normal. The dangerous monsters in particular are probably content to stay away from population centers, so most of them end up staying in places like the Everfree. Of course, that's just from what we've seen so far.

 

 

Equestria is only a good place if you're a female pony. If you're a male, you'll have significantly less opportunity

 

Evidence certainly seems to contradict your baseless claim, there are plenty of mares AND stallions in the show who seem quite successful, regardless of prominence when it comes to screentime, and there's been no indication of discrimination or one gender being particularly advantaged. For all intents and purposes, from what we've seen so far, things appear quite egalitarian when it comes to that stuff.

 

Some might assume that alicorns are female-only, but honestly, I see no reason to believe that; why would gender be relevant? The two princes we have likely aren't alicorns because Shining Armor is a prince consort, and Prince Blueblood presumably inherited his title. Alicornship seems to be something that isn't given to you on a silver platter because of title alone. Still, you could definitely make the argument that Equestria's government is technically matriarchal as long as all current alicorns are female.

 

Ultimately though, we're discussing society, not government, and when it comes to Equestria's society from what we've seen so far in the show, most evidence seems to support gender-egalitarianism of some sort or another. Again, female characters do receive more focus in this show, sure, but they certainly don't seem to be portrayed as having some unfair advantage over male characters. And, something else worth considering is that, regardless of gender, we lack in-show examples of characters that hold significant political positions, other than the princesses of course. On the other hand, both mares and stallions are quite well-represented in the case of influential social and economic positions, as well as just normal careers.

 

The whole stuff with non-pony races is more unclear though. We don't even see all that many non-pony characters interacting with other characters in the show. I sincerely doubt it's anywhere near as problematic as you claim though.

 

But still, all things considered, it's fair to admit that we are lacking in a lot of information when it comes to this stuff. It's not like the show is giving us indepth lessons on Equestrian culture and society. I think that's important to remember when people (including me, of course) attempt to get all high and mighty with supposed 'facts' about Equestria.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Vixor

[Roughshod 719]

Evidence contradicts your baseless claim, there are plenty of mares AND stallions in the show who seem quite successful, and there's been no indication of discrimination or one gender being particularly advantaged. For all intents and purposes, from what we've seen so far, things appear quite egalitarian when it comes to that stuff.

Their claim is not simply baseless and it's pompous and rude to try to dismiss it as such.

 

While it has been shown that some stallions have attained success in certain areas, the fact is that only alicorn mares possess any real political power and influence over Equestria. Alicorn mares who, I might add, have attained their position not by being elected by the citizenry or appointed through any type of consensus but rather by hereditary titles and connection. Despite her title Celestia acts far more like a queen when she wants to, and her power and apparent immortality as well as that of her sister make Equestria seem more like a theocratic state.

 

 

Doesn't seem very egalitarian to me.