A Not-So-Modest Proposal

Going in, I didn't know what to expect from reading Jonathon Swift's "A Modest Proposal". But after reading just the first few lines, combined with the knowledge of what our class is focusing on, I knew exactly what I was getting in to. 

The idea of eating your young does not sound like the most ideal or delicious plan of action. They're human, they have rights and they're just so adorable (well, most of them). But look at the time this was written and the situation they were in. The poor are littering the streets, their numbers growing, people are sick and spreading disease and the overall welfare of the state is diminishing.. The fact that Swift is even mentioning this "modest proposal" shows the state of mind people of this nation were in. The mere act of conceiving this idea reeks of desperation. Like the old saying goes, "Nothing great comes without great sacrifice"

Although the thought of eating a child, specifically my own offspring, makes me physically sick to my stomach, but imagine that you're poor, homeless, starving with no idea how you'll feed your family, let alone yourself, and prone to sickness and death. A man offers you a handsome sum of money for your child that you may have not even wanted in the first place. Do you decline or do you accept, knowing full well what will happen to that child and what that money can bring to you and the rest of your family? I honestly couldn't tell you what I would do given this situation. Decisions like these make me glad that I live in this day and time and have a roof over my head.