Swift’s Modest Proposal: his underlying message

So many times in life, society is blind to the huge inconsistencies evident in every day; people are either so burdened or indifferent that the truth no longer holds the power to provoke action. This phenomenon can certainly be seen in many aspects of our culture, such as prevailing wage inconsistencies between men and women, the huge divides between those in poverty and the very rich, and the rapid disintegration of small American farms when the need for whole foods has never been greater. These issues are right before our eyes every day and most of us seem indifferent to them, so understanding how the Irish population took such a passive approach to England’s tyranny is better understood in light of our own passivity.

That being said however, passive as the Irish population was to England, nothing prepared me for the extent of Swift’s mockery of the situation. His anger seems directed in both directions: the abusers and the abused. Sarcasm is often used as a means to communicate real concerns, and this piece is no exception. Through the absurdity of Swift’s solution, infant cannibalism, we begin to fathom the desperation of the poverty dilemma. In fact, cannibalism is the most logical parallel Swift could have made to the real situation.

That might sound strange, but it is true; consider England’s treatment of the Irish. All of Ireland’s valuable land was under the thumb of disconnected English landowners who had no interest whatsoever in their tenants. Trade was not lucrative for any Irish person, the English made sure they dominated the market. In other words, the English owned every facet of power, including the ability to produce food. Most of Ireland’s population was in desperate poverty and this was a direct result of England’s selfish occupation.

What Swift was trying so hard to convey in his sarcastic diatribe was very simple; Wake up, the English are literally starving you already; denying land and trade rights. They are sucking the life out of communities and families and to sell infants to English gentry as a food source is no less an accurate portrayal of the situation than what is literally happening.

Swift was right; the English might not have made an overt market out of the Irish population, but they sure created a system where they withheld basic human rights of dignity, the right to an honest living, and readily available food sources. Swift’s comparison is not strange at all; it was a very literal interpretation of what was happening and an honest reaction to a horrible situation.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1080/1080-h/1080-h.htm

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/19/1171343/-My-Favorite-Authors-Jonathan-Swift-and-an-updated-Modest-proposal

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/19/1171343/-My-Favorite-Authors-Jonathan-Swift-and-an-updated-Modest-proposal