In Ireland, there are 120,000 kids born a day. His proposal is to fatten up these undernourished children and feed them to Ireland’s nobility. Children of the poor could be sold into a meat market at the age of one. He also says this can solve overpopulation and unemployment, since families no longer have to pay expenses for the children. The author gives the numbers for his statements and gives specific numbers about the number of children to be sold, their weight and price. He also gives some recipes for preparing this “delicious” meat, and he feels sure that creative cooks will soon be selling them. He also says that this will have positive effects on family ethics: husbands will treat their wives with more respect, and parents will savor their children ( reverse psychology). His conclusion is that the movement of this project will solve thousands of problems in Ireland.
I find this absolutely horrendous. Parents value their children’s life above themselves and all others. Taking them away, and knowing that someone else is going to EAT them, makes them feel despaired. This is not a “Modest Proposal” more like a “Cannibalistic Proposal”. Although this was all reverse psychology, it is wrong and unjust, I disagree with these actions.