There's really no point to voting. If it made any difference, it would probably be illegal.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that voting is ineffective and implies that real change is prevented by those in power.
H. L. Mencken's quote reflects a cynical view of the political system, asserting that the act of voting holds little significance in effecting real change. By claiming that if voting made a meaningful difference it would be prohibited, Mencken conveys a sense of distrust towards political processes and the existing power structures that may seek to maintain the status quo.
In practice
During a debate on the importance of civic engagement, you could use this quote to illustrate skepticism about the effectiveness of voting.
I know a good many men of great learning-that is, men born with an extraordinary eagerness and capacity to acquire knowledge. One and all, they tell me that they can't recall learning anything of any value in school. All that schoolmasters managed to accomplish with them was to test and determine the amount of knowledge that they had already acquired independently-and not infrequently the determination was made clumsily and inaccurately.
It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the idea that after all God will not help him
It is the theory of all modern civilized governments that they protect and foster the liberty of the citizen; it is the practice of all of them to limit its exercise, and sometimes very narrowly.
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy.
It is my conviction that no normal man ever fell in love, within the ordinary meaning of the term, after the age of thirty.
Presidential ambition is a disease that can only be cured by embalming fluid.
You can suddenly have a series of countries waking up and saying, 'I want the same status as the Brits,' which will be, de facto, the dismantling of the rest of Europe.
The essence of government is control, or the attempt to control.
Im happy to be a part of the conversation, if more young people are talking about fracking instead of twerking were heading in the right direction. The people that govern us dont want an active population who are politically engaged, they want passive consumers distracted by the spectacle of which I accept I am a part.
It's true that it's within the realm of cultural politics that young people tend to work through political issues, which I think is good, although it's not going to solve the problems
No medieval monarch in the whole of British history ever had such power as every modern British Prime Minister has in his or her hands. Nor does any American President have power approaching this
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