A small brass gavel lies beside a stack of blank papers on dark mahogany.

Original artwork, not a still

Prejudices, First Series ‧ 1919

H. L. Mencken

Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The line compares an election to a sale conducted in advance, and labels the goods stolen. That image casts the process as an exchange involving something the seller does not rightfully own. Its cynicism comes from treating a public vote as a market for ill-gotten property.

Context reviewed

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