People
The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.
— Lily Tomlin
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
A joke about competitiveness: even if you come first in a frantic scramble for status or success, you haven't escaped what you were. The punchline lands because winning a rat race just makes you the champion rat, not something better.
Context reviewed