Amidst a global health crisis, athletes gathered in a cherished tradition. They did what their predecessors did in the first games in 776 B.C. Representing their respective nations with pride is the standard. Doing so at their peril has been a standard we ought now redress. Should athletes perform for millions worldwide to entertain? Are athletes our Pagliacci, compelled to laugh, perform and answer questions through emotional and physical pain?

There is a fondness for the history of the 18th century. The height of colonial empire building and feudalism, codified in behaviors of caste, servility and human bondage. American Faust shows America as the hapless Marguerite in the 2020 version of America's betrayal to Q, the 2020 version of Mephistopheles in Goethe's Faust.