AModest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
AModest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
Theproposal given by Jonathan Swift turns out to have a surprise endingin the long-run. In the paper, he has aimed to establish a proposalin which children who are brought up in poor families may be broughtup in a way through which they may cease being a burden on theirparents and the country and instead be of great benefit to the wholecountry when they grow up. This is quite positively motivated inthat it is usually a bad feeling whenever people walk and see youngpeople seated by the road-side as beggars and commercial sex workers(Swift, 1729). The proposal goes a long way in ensuring that thesechildren are able to gain their sense of individual and human valuethrough attempting to make actions that will be of great benefit tothem.
Swiftseems to sympathize with children who are brought up in poorfamilies he provides some strategies that he feels will be great atmaking such children be of great benefit to the country (Swift,1729). One of the ways that he points out will be vital to helping toachieve this course is through building the capability of parents totake part in trade so that they may be able to afford some basicneeds as well as the luxuries that they could use to make theirchildren grow up to be of great value to the country.
Itis, therefore, quite surprising when Swift, in the end, states thathe does not have any children for which he could claim to be in needof government support. He states that his youngest child is nineyears old, and his wife is beyond the child-bearing age (Swift,1729). The element of surprise in that statement is that it is quiteunexpected given the strength which he has applied in stating thatpeople who are poor and with children need a lot of financial supportfrom the government.
References
Swift,J. (1729). A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poorpeople in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country,and for making them beneficial to the publick (1729)