Response To A Modest Proposal By Jonathan Swift

Desperate times often call for desperate measures, and proposals of desperate measures are often met with swift criticism if they are found to be without rational thought and merit. It is unlikely that anyone in their right mind would consider, for any amount of time, the proposal of rearing children, or properly raising them, as food to help alleviate poverty-stricken Ireland in 1729. Yet, Jonathan Swift’s suggestion was satirical brilliance, and it was a modest proposal for illuminating the cause of Ireland’s woes. The proposal was not actually eating children but placing a mirror for the reader to reflect upon. The target audience of landlords, gentlemen, and other people of stature were more than accustomed to stepping on the poor on their way to the top. The solution was tailored to appeal to those who he implied are the responsible parties for perpetuating the disadvantages of the Irish people.

Jonathan Swift was born to an affluent Irish family; he was well educated and became increasingly involved with politics in England and his homeland. Ireland’s long history of invaders and repression culminated with England’s draconian rule by imposing tariffs and oppressing any religion beside the Church of England, mainly the Catholic Church. The continual ill-treatment of his homeland became Swift’s fodder. He wrote pointed satirical works, calling out social issues and promoting Irish home rule. The overall tone of a modest proposal is that of an economic advantage for those of wealth and power, marginalizing the basic rights of life for those who were to become the food for the rich, the means of the poor to lessen their melancholy, and a call to the Irish people to unite and fight for their rights.

The purely economic ration...

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...anageable food supply, a small step from their already impossible plight, then Swift’s proposal solves many problems.

He computes the number of viable stock, reserves for breeding purposes, the costs of raising them, and the financial benefits of doing so. It is rational, economic for the fortunate to buy, profitable for the families giving up their young to slaughter, and helps reduce Catholic population growth, which was viewed as a threat to the throne. His arguments are solid and irrefutable, granted if one can get over eating what a knowing American assured Swift as a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food. His proposal is indeed modest, and it sounds like a winner to me! How much for the little baby in the window? Ah, good butcher, not the fat one. I will take the smoked one, please. Mmm, baby bacon!