A Modest Proposal is Jonathan Swift's satirical solution to the overwhelming population problem. His ingenious idea is to ultimately, consume infants. Swift explains the problem of over population along with the decline in resources caused by it. He then shows the reader(s) the upside of cannibalism by stabilizing the economy and helping it to prosper. He explains that parents cannot afford to raise their children and would be better off selling them in their first year. He claims that once children are too old that they not only expire in taste, but are another set of hands to help out the parents.Swift goes so far as today, if children do get purchased that they should be awarded a plentiful "last meal" (aka breast milk). Swift attempts to hilariously convince the audience that this is indeed their last hope.
I thought it was a great read. Aside from the cannibalism part, it seems Swift is the only one trying to come up with a solution and at the very least, he's pointing out the problem. It does make you wonder just how far humanity would go if we faced such a crisis. (I'm sure we'd just kill people and not eat them depending on the circumstances though.)
I thought it was a great read. Aside from the cannibalism part, it seems Swift is the only one trying to come up with a solution and at the very least, he's pointing out the problem. It does make you wonder just how far humanity would go if we faced such a crisis. (I'm sure we'd just kill people and not eat them depending on the circumstances though.)
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