n  FOR PREVENTING THE CHILDREN OF POOR PEOPLE IN IRELAND, FROM BEING A BURDEN TO THEIR PARENTS OR COUNTRY; AND FOR MAKING THEM BENEFICIAL TO THE PUBLICKn
Got this for the child cannibalism, was not disappointed.

‘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’ otherwise known as simply 'A Modest Proposal' is anything but modest.

'I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.

I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricasie, or a ragoust.'

This satire was said to have been written in response to the heartless response to Irish poverty and the policies of the leaders at the time. ‘A Modest Proposal’ goes into extreme detail on how selling infants after the age of one will be beneficial to society which was quite humorous, indeed; however, as a satire it was obviously meant as a mockery and I do believe it hit the mark.

It gives a whole new meaning to "People are our greatest resource", doesn't it? This little satire made me miss Jon Stewart all over again.

Haha, I didn't know what the proposal would be! How very biting! I'm glad I wasn't spoiled before reading this. I think I'd have liked Jonathan Swift.

This review includes sensitive material that may be upsetting to some friends.

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I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection. I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled, and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or ragout.

A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter.


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** Photo credit: Jonathan Swift / CC
Population / James Cridland, Flickr via Forbes.
Photo of a baby lobster via IDN Times.



Jan 04, 16
* Also on my blog.

Opening: It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads and cabbin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms. These mothers instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in stroling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes.

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1080

3,5

Last night my daughter asked me to watch what passes for comedy to pre-teens on Nickelodeon; a show low on laughs but high on laugh track. It's Halloween week and of course the thematic drum of cheap scares and slutty costumes (those of you dads that have 11 year old girls know what it is like to take a knee at the end of the show to have a side-bar chat about this topic alone) plays large when midway through the episode a six year old girl dressed like a failing barrister circa 1735 comes firing on stage screaming at her parents because they got her a Jonathan Swift costume instead of the requested Taylor Swift. This is where I wanted to pause live TV to tell my daughter about the original Swift, about A Modest Proposal - how our current American culture screams for someone like him to write about our never-ending race problem, our soul sucking capitalism-at-any-cost, our failed PAC-fueled political system. But my daughter is 11, I am 45, it's late on Saturday night and I don't have it in me. I watch the Jonathan Swift girl rant and rave and I drool thinking about delicious Irish babies in a white wine sauce.

It was a sad read for me , the words depicting mothers followed by 4, 5 or 6 children all in rags importuning every passenger for alms , reading this satirical article, one could imagine that famines, extreme poverty and conflicts that lead Jonathan Swift to write his proposal were mere past and a blissfully no such atrociousness is still present in our days, while the contrary is true.
Such scenes are still very common, at least in my home country.

The world is still suffering, especially children who are paying the price of adults stupidities and nonsense fighting over Power, lands, money and differences in religions or ideas .

It is sad to end up agreeing with Jonathan’s non modest proposal and truly believing that it is better for them to be devoured than to be grown up deprived from their least basic rights such as living in dignity , food , shelter, love and education.

Many children in the – non developing - countries are suffering and will continue to suffer, so I still beseech the world to reconsider Jonathan’s Modest proposal and make it universal !



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image safe

The hospital's obstetrician department seemed to look like the inside of a stock exchange building. There was constant tumult of men bidding for all the babies that were to bee born that day. If a buyer was lucky, a lot of triplets were born on the day of his bid. The hospitals were provided with high security. These sites had become hot spots for suicide bombings. The terrorists had been manipulating people, using the name of Islam to besmirching the innocuous act of cannibalism. These men were local buyers, most of them were KFB* franchise owners. KFB* had dominated the baby meat market all over the world. To cut their costs, they had been bamboozling people by mixing monkey meat & baby meat. Most people couldn't discern the difference. People couldn't stop devouring on baby meat. It had more health benefits than any other type of meat. The hidden fact was that baby meat also caused impotency in both men & women alike. In the earlier days when baby meat was new on the market, getting people to like it was no problem. Mass media propaganda can make people want pretty much anything, just like the phones with an I. KFC* had been industriously trying to get back its market share. Studies sponsored by KFC* had shown that in the future we would end up eating our next generation. The world would be inhabited by a middle-aged impotent bourgeois which will finally get old & die. This triggered a lot of activists to protest & urge the myriads to stop eating babies which had an impact similar to the awareness drives for Global Warming. For no particular reason September 19th was sanctioned as the No-Baby-Eating Day. The capitalists continued making money, indifferent people continued eating babies, and people who read continued reading.

Kentucky's Fried Baby*
Kentucky's Fried Chicken*

**3.5 stars **

A modest proposal’, is a satirical essay written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in 1729. The essay suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles, by selling their children for food to rich ladies and gentlemen! This satirical hyperbole, mocked heartless attitudes towards the poor, as well as British policy toward the Irish in general.

A macabre, but tongue in cheek suggestion to the poor of 1729, on how to avoid poverty, by selling their babies for food! Lock up your babies now!, until they’re a fully formed adult, is all I say!

It’s free on this link https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1080/...

En mi reciente visita a Dublín visité la catedral de Saint Patrick, en donde Jonathan Swift ejerció de decano, y donde también está enterrado. A través de un guía local conocí los pormenores de la vida del escritor, merecedora de una buena biografía, pero lo que más me sorprendió fue el descubrimiento que la guía me hizo sobre su ensayo satírico, “Una modesta proposición” (1729), ¡donde ironiza con la idea de que los campesinos deberían vender a sus hijos a los terratenientes a fin de que estos se los coman!! Dicha ironía y humor negro no fue muy bien acogida en la época por sus contemporáneos, cuando lo que realmente pretendía Swift era poner en evidencia las condiciones lamentables de los campesinos y gente de clase baja de la Irlanda que le tocó vivir. Especialmente le molestaba el maltrato con que los protestantes trataban a los católicos, haciéndoles la vida imposible, y lo poco que estos se rebelaban contra tales injusticias.
El ensayo es corto, se lee en poco más de una hora, pero no tiene desperdicio. Eso sí, antes de leerlo, debes cambiar el chip para ponerte en modo humor macabro, so pena de acabar asqueado. Hecho esto, disfrutarás de una lectura llena de una sátira pionera en su época. Baste para ello adjuntar esta breve cita.


“…therefore, one male will be sufficient to serve four females. That the remaining hundred thousand may, at a year old, be offered in sale to the persons of quality and fortune, through the kingdom, always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in the last month, so as to render them plump, and fat for a good table. A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter.”

Un poco macabro, no? ; )

Como ejemplo de que el autor estaba muy comprometido con el bienestar social de sus conciudadanos, en su testamento donó terrenos, dinero y planos para construir un manicomio con jardín, algo hasta entonces desconocido por aquellos pagos.