That crazy Jonathan Swift!

Ok, I'll admit, I didn't recognize who the hell he was until I realized he wrote Gulliver's Travels (which I admit I've never read, but still, I've heard of it at least)

Anyway, for my current English class I was assigned to read his essay "A Modest Proposal", which he wrote back in 1729. To be such an old essay, it's a pretty easy read.

If you enjoy satire and you've never read the essay, but want to, Click Here ..

At first read, you may think Swift is insane (and maybe he was, who knows). Satirically in this essay, he suggests that the Irish should eat their offspring. He says there are too many starving children, and too many parents who just keep breeding and cannot take care of their kids. So .. to remedy this problem, he thinks it would be best to fatten the child up til they are one year old, and then eat them, whether as a fricassee or a ragout.

Baked, broiled, stewed, or roasted .. doesn't matter to Swift.

Being a non-breeder, I found it pretty humourous.