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CHRISTOPHER BLACKMAN AMERICAN PHARAOH Secretariat, Assault, Citation, American Pharaoh: important horses ascend the same way important people do—by increasing shareholder value. This is not to diminish the legitimate awe inspired by an animal traveling at breathtaking speeds. But you can tell the whole thing was somebody else's idea. The fastest horses in the wild would never stop after one and a quarter laps to declare a winner. Call me old fashioned, but I preferred it when the ruling class pretended they were making the world a better place. Lying meant they were at least ashamed of their ambitions. Then again, the people who built the pyramids probably didn't think it was a practical allocation of resources—all their toil to ensure a comfortable person's comfortable afterlife. It never ends. Not even in death. About doomsday bunkers, I read once that they've planned everything for the collapse, except how exactly to keep the guards loyal after they've sealed them inside the vault. |