In the 1924 essay Portrait of an Ideal World, Henry Louis Mencken argues against the prohibition of alcohol by describing not only the benefits of being slightly intoxicated at all times, but what harms are in store for the world should everyone remain sober. He begins with describing how drinking small amounts “releases the qualities which mellow us and make our fellows love us—for example, amiability, generosity, toleration, humor, sympathy,” (Paragraph 1) and transitions to the dangers of a non-alcoholic lifestyle, “All the great villainies of history have been perpetrated by sober men, and chiefly by teetotalers.” (Paragraph 1) Mencken’s argument is rather silly, yet this is not accidental, for he does this in order to satirize how absurd banning alcohol is when the greatest harm from too much is “fatuous bawling or maudlin tears.” (Paragraph 2) The author’s argument appeals to the common man of the era by declaring the alcohol brings out the most enjoyable traits, making people generally more likable; Mencken appeals to the American Congress that abolishing such an act would benefit the country and further the advancement of the human race while simultaneously ridding the world of evil.
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