A Modest Proposal; for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country,

and for making them beneficial to the publick

(reviewed by: Walter) The best way to communicate with your audience is to captivate them, so they will listen until you are finished. But when approaching an over worked subject, the closer to extreme and exotic you have to go to gather interest. Swift (his most famous work is !ulliver"s Travels#$ definitely went far enough get people"s attention in a %odest &roposal#, some would say it went too far, but that is what set it apart... what makes it truly memorable. 'n short the 'rish ( )nglish conflict had been around for hundreds of years. 't seemed it never cool down because they were not )nglish, and they retained *atholicism as their state religion. Because of this in Swift"s time (around +,-.$ the )nglish were very prejudice towards their 'rish neighbors. /ne of the things the )nglish held against the 'rish is the poor tended to have large families that were considered a bane on society. So Swift offered the )nglish a solution that made them reevaluate their attitude towards the 'rish, instead of directly fixing the problem. Swift suggested instead of supplying welfare for these families, they should encourage theses 'rish families to start family farms, literally. They could raise a particular type of live stock# that the )nglish could then use as a delicacy. Swift then meticulous details how this would be the most economical and efficient solution for these large destitute 'rish families. /ne of the best parts about Swifts solution is, the 'rish were already very proficient at raising this life form#, it just had never been widely thought of as an acceptable delicacy before. The benefits include0 the )nglish would have a new delicious... delicacy#, 'rish wives would be treated better, financial surplus for participating 'rish families, and finally the 'rish families could now actually provide for what children they had left. 1lthough the benefits were numerous, the costs were enormous. Swift was not trying to suggest a sudden miraculous solution2 he was trying to shock the )nglish of his day in to reali3ing how horrible they were treating the 'rish by suggesting something far more hideous. 't is very reminiscent of the parable of the ewe, which the 4ord commanded 5athan to tell 6avid regarding his affair with Bathsheba. (- Samuel +-0+7.$ ' always appreciated the economist8s view of what constitutes gain. 9ou have to not only cover your costs but your profit (or benefits$ have to exceed your next best option. So too it is not good enough to just get ahead financially, you should also always pick the most beneficial option. /ne of the benefits we must always check is our moral benefits. There may be a solution to world problems, that is effective, and may be even efficient. :owever, will we lose our selves in the process, should we trade

our morals in exchange for a morals in to take advantage of the 1ll of these examples helped me understand understand the need to take all things in to consideration. 1ll of these teach two basic principles0 +$ never be so focused on the trees you miss the forest, -$ which taught best in Swift"s 1 %odest &roposal# (in a very memorable and personal way$ should the end justify the means; &.S. 'f you want to understand why Swift"s %odest &roposal# wasn"t really modest and why it shocked the )nglish then and why it will shock you now; <ead it at http0==andromeda.rutgers.edu=>jlynch=Texts=modest.html