@Background Pony #DB01
I’m of the opinion that it’s Big Mac who really keeps the farm afloat. Applejack is nominally in charge, and does a lot of work, but her comment about “fancy mathematics” reveals not only that she doesn’t have a head for numbers, but that Big Mac does.
I think Big Mac takes care of the business side of things, keeping the books and such, while doing about 55-60% of the physical labor, while Applejack does about 39-44% and is the friendly face of the business. Apple Bloom does the remaining 1% whenever they can nail her down for more than five minutes.
@aerion111
If AJ hadn’t been born, wouldn’t Granny Smith just have invited someone else from the extended applefamily to come live on the farm to help her and Big Mac out with keeping it running? Its not like AJ does something there noone else could do just as well….
RD’s “I’m awesome” attitude is also exactly why many don’t like her. It makes her egocentric, narcissistic and fairly myopic douchebag. She’s gotten that “Don’t be a selfish twat” aesop nearly as many times as Fluttershy has learned to be assertive. And the lesson still doesn’t seem to have stuck.
She does however fly faster than anyone else, so at least she can do SOMETHING pointless though it may be to anyone but an athlete that noone else can do.
@Starswirl
I’m kinda glad they show there’s both good & bad people/ponies on both sides of the fence. Often times other shows fail to do that, which I think has helped contribute to all the unfortunate “class warfare” going on around the country…
@aerion111
Oooh! Okay, I understand what you meant now.
Let’s not forget how much Twilight’s organisation skills helped Ponyville even before she became a princess, though. They never even managed to wrap up winter in time before she managed it.
@Starswirl
Valuable as ‘of the most benefit to society as a whole’
At the end of the fifth season, if you removed Rainbow Dash from existence, not much would change.
Well, except for among the Elements, I mean.
She does a fairly mediocre job as a weather mare (because she doesn’t care about it, I assume), and being a Wonderbolt reserve doesn’t give her too many important roles with her actual interests.
Twilight depends, like I said, on your political views; Some might even argue that removing her, and any other princesses you can get rid of, would benefit society (though I’m not one of them)
But Applejack seems the one where her death or general removal would cause the most harm, as she does an important job keeping a large portion of the agriculture going.
Her family helps out, but she’s always seemed to be the one ‘in charge’ and generally keeping them on track.
Essentially, she’s the Limestone of the apple family, just not quite as mean :P
My point, however, was that AJ has an important job, yes, and she does a respectable job of it, but she’s not as interesting as Twilight and Dash.
I mean, seriously, how can you not love Dash when she’s all ‘I’m awesome!’ - that kind of energy’s infectious :P
AJ’s too even-headed, you don’t get big ‘Apples are the greatest ever!’ moments.
@Wertyla
I’ll cede that she might be the most valuable of the 5 not-Twilights of the Mane 6 (Twilight’s a special case; Her value is largely up to your political views)
But I’m sticking with Twilight and RD fighting over first place depending on writers, my mood, and the context, with Applejack being a solid third.
Now if only Applejack could learn some economics, she might join the fight for first…
Seriously, she seems to sell entire huge orchards on a monthly basis, and she has no employees, expensively-maintained tools, or even a particularly large family to feed.
So, huge amounts of income, low amounts of expenses, and somehow she is constantly worried about the farm’s economy.
I assume it’s her pride getting in the way; Too prideful to hire help, and also too prideful to ‘stoop’ to raising prices and generally compete aggressively.
@Beau Skunky
They respect her better than the city ponies, that’s for sure. And Canterlot’s high society isn’t even presented that badly, but most fanfic authors make it out to be the most useless, vapid, stupid, ignorant and/or downright evil bunch possible.
@Beau Skunky
And that doesn’t even go into the fact that agriculture is a science, and a very extensive one at that. You need to have a great deal of book smarts to succeed as a farmer.
@Wertyla
To be a farmer, you actually have to be quite smart, ‘cause it’s not just physical work, but brain work to, as they have to run their own business, plan things, balance their budget, and other things too. The idea they’re “stupid,” is just a typical ignorant stereotype from the media who can’t distinguish them from redneck/white trash stereotypes.
Applejack has been shown to be quite smart, her main character flaws are her stubborness, and temper. Regardless, the show writers seem to respect her.
@Background Pony #F2C8
Wow, our society is not kind to farmers. I don’t think farmers are stupid by any means. There are probably many who’ve lived who have been pretty brilliant. People make nasty stereotypes about them, probably because the US economy has moved away from being an agricultural society. I’m not saying that non-farming jobs “aren’t work”. There are many different kinds of work, and most jobs (except many in government) are important in their own ways. Let’s not be so snobbish… Without farmers, where would we get our food? The ability to grow stuff is a skill critical the humanity’s survival.
Look at this chart. It shows how the US has become less agricultural over time. Now, it says that in 1790, 90% of US jobs were in farming. People of that era WERE NOT STUPID. Many think they were because people of our generation tend to look down on their ancestors without actually knowing anything about them. If you read things written in that time, however, you’ll find that they were much more eloquent than most people today are.
@Background Pony #F2C8
The two ideas are not mutually exclusive; Some stories essentially seem to imply that ‘real’ work is what you resort to if you’re not able to get any of the ‘dishonest, fake’ jobs :P
As in, it’s assumed the average person (ponies are people too! Pony lives matter!) would not hesitate to take a well-paying job, even if it’s not entirely an honest one (in particular, a lot of people seem to have time to browse the net during work. I know some who GM multiple message-board roleplaying games, without ever going on the message board during their spare time. Heck, I know some who apparently manage to get into EVE at work, but I assume those require very specific job-settings)
So, if you decide to make a living actually working, it must be because you had no choice after you failed making a living by essentially relying on your grades.
Heck, to some extent? Most jobs aren’t real work.
Most of the time, the job’s just too time-consuming (or generally unattractive) for the employer to do themselves, and too complex for an automated system (though this applies to fewer and fewer jobs)
It’s not going to take any real effort, it might not even take that much skill, and if you’re lucky/unlucky (depending on your desires) you’ll end up not being needed for a lot of the time (presumably it’s these jobs where people learn to look busy while they’re online)
@aerion111
>Earth Ponies were known to be dumb, and farming is generally considered something you do if you don’t have the intelligence for a ’real’ job.
Opposite also true, some writers tend to think the only ‘real, honest’ work is physical labor. Yeeea, artists are lazy and deceptive, sure. Those writers depict that intellectual work is just waste of time, and main hero from city is quickly ‘fixed’ and ‘cured’ from it, now he do only ‘honest’ work.
@Beau Skunky
Ah, I read that comic! Applejack vs. bureaucracy = best comic idea ever. AJ ended up learning that the government CAN come in handy during emergencies, and that the best politicians think not of themselves, but of the people/ponies they’re supposed to be serving… Too bad more real-life politicians don’t realize (or want to face) that. They never really did justify why there was so much bureaucratic madness in the first place, though. Mayor Mare revealed that she could make all the paperwork go away in an instant, which makes one wonder why it exists at all. Within the context of the story, it was just a pretext used to lure Applejack to the town hall, but I still think it’s unnecessary.
@Beau Skunky
Yeah, there’s a LOT of hypocrisy that comes from SJWs. It’s funny how they say, “Don’t be a bigot. Don’t go by stereotypes. Not everyone fits your narrow-minded view.” Then they say, “All white people are racist. All Christians are bigots. All Southerners are rednecks. All males are oppressive and patriarchal.”
I’ve heard a story about a couple similar to that white guy who had the black girlfriend that you mentioned. A VERY liberal white woman married a black man, and kept drawing attention to the fact that he was black. It was a blatant effort to make herself look “diverse and tolerant” to other people, and she was consumed by her obsession with his race… then she accidentally revealed what she REALLY thought of him and black people in general when she got pregnant and implied that their mixed-race baby wouldn’t be human.
@Wertyla
I’m southern, and I find it hilarious when people online assume I talk like Applejack or Bunnie Rabbot, when I don’t really have a cute southern accent at all.
Speaking of stereotypes, I remember getting into an argument with some ignorant P.C., guilty-white SJW whom tried to claim all southern American people are racist. I normally don’t take bait like that, but I kinda just wanted to mess with him. I just pointed out I never really witnessed any racist hate crimes where I live, even pointing out many people where I live aren’t white, and even I myself am a mixed race. it was hilarious seeing how much hypocrisy he had. (Trying to promote “tolerance” while trying to encourage hatred of people at the same time.)
He even bragged about having a black girlfriend, to show how “not racist/superior” he was to other people. (People who claim to not care about race, oddly seem to act like they do ironically.)
@Wulfosaurus
The comics did an issue where AJ lost it. Though, of course unfortunately nobody regards or likes the comics anymore.”
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