Swift's "A Modest Proposal
" Essay Example
Swift's Modest Proposal for the Preventing the Children of Poor People from being a burden to their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public is a satire of the English opinion of the Irish, barbarians. Though this is a satire, Swift has a good point about eating children. In the world today there are approximately 6 billion people, many being children. By the year 2050, according to the World Population Profile: 1998, the population will reach 9.3 billion. Consumption of children would help this and many other problems that afflict our society as a whole.
"For first, as I have already observed, it would greatly lessen the number of papists, with whom we are yearly overrun, being the principal breeders of the nation as well as our most dangerous enemies; and who stay at home on purpose with a design to deliver the kingdom to the Pretender, hoping to take their advantage by the absence of so many good protestants, who have chosen rather to leave their country than stay at home and pay tithes against their conscience to an Episcopal curate." (Swift, 3) He talks of lessening the number of people, which is good, considering at this time we have approximately six billion people, and the projected number for the year 2050 is 9.3 billion. While the rate of increase has declined over the years, adding the extra people to the earth is similar to repopulating Israel, Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza to the existing population each year. Having 9.5 billion people habituating the earth, there will be a quarter as much fresh water per person in 2050 as there was in 1950. We lose over 100 species at 1000 times their natural rate. By consuming infants, we decrease the population in two ways, they will not grow to produce another generation and they will not live. In addition, this solves the problem of starvation, because many essential nutrients are stored in flesh, many cultures rely on a diet of only meat and stay healthy. Therefore, we wont
"For first, as I have already observed, it would greatly lessen the number of papists, with whom we are yearly overrun, being the principal breeders of the nation as well as our most dangerous enemies; and who stay at home on purpose with a design to deliver the kingdom to the Pretender, hoping to take their advantage by the absence of so many good protestants, who have chosen rather to leave their country than stay at home and pay tithes against their conscience to an Episcopal curate." (Swift, 3) He talks of lessening the number of people, which is good, considering at this time we have approximately six billion people, and the projected number for the year 2050 is 9.3 billion. While the rate of increase has declined over the years, adding the extra people to the earth is similar to repopulating Israel, Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza to the existing population each year. Having 9.5 billion people habituating the earth, there will be a quarter as much fresh water per person in 2050 as there was in 1950. We lose over 100 species at 1000 times their natural rate. By consuming infants, we decrease the population in two ways, they will not grow to produce another generation and they will not live. In addition, this solves the problem of starvation, because many essential nutrients are stored in flesh, many cultures rely on a diet of only meat and stay healthy. Therefore, we wont