I just reread (for the first time in a good while) A Modest Proposal by Johnathan Swift, and I forgot how unhinged this man was.
For the uninitiated, itās a satirical essay discussing famine and poverty in Ireland in the 18th century, with the author sarcastically proposing that they just have the poor sell their children to be eaten by the rich once they reach a year old, and breaking down his suggestion with a lot of numbers and detached, logical-sounding statements. Heās very pro Irish, pro Catholic, and pro kids, and wrote the essay to bring awareness to the dehumanizing way the Irish and Catholics were treated by the British.
And he pulls zero punches.
āI grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.ā
āInfant's flesh will be in season throughout the year, but more plentiful in March, and a little before and after; for we are told by a grave author, an eminent French physician, that fish being a prolific diet, there are more children born in Roman Catholic countries about nine months after Lentā
āI fortunately fell upon this proposal, which, as it is wholly new, so it hath something solid and real, of no expense and little trouble, full in our own power, and whereby we can incur no danger in disobliging England. For this kind of commodity will not bear exportation, and flesh being of too tender a consistence, to admit a long continuance in salt, although perhaps I could name a country, which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it.ā
And the very last line is
āI profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich. I have no children, by which I can propose to get a single penny; the youngest being nine years old, and my wife past childbearing.ā
