What does the essay the "modest proposal" state about how capitalism deals with its problems? Is Swift's complaint about capitalist society still hold weight?
A Barbaric Economic Solution
"A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to their Parents, or the Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Publick," written by a priest named Jonathan Swift, is a sarcastically conceived attempt to find out a fair, cheap, and easy method for converting the starving children of Ireland into sound and useful citizens of their kingdom. Swift addresses Irish poverty and argues that the problem can be solved, and the economy saved by eating Irish babies. In the 1700's, the economy was operating on the principle of 'survival of the fittest,' thus, ruling under the Capitalist Economy. Capitalism is an economic, social and political system, where private individuals control a country's trade and business, and the government has little or no control over the market. The problems Ireland at that time was battling was poverty along with overpopulation, hatred and inequality from Great Britain, and prejudice and discrimination. However, in line with Swift, capitalism in Ireland faced these challenges amongst others, and proposed economic solutions to most of its problems.
In A Modest Proposal, the Irish people were living in poverty and the streets and alleyways are often overflowing with children begging. The "mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants" (442) and they basically were being raised as beggars and thieves. Jonathan Swift adopts the persona of a concerned economist and proposes to prevent the poor children from being a burden but rather beneficial to their parents and society. Swift suggests that, in order to better combat the poverty and overpopulation of Ireland, the children of the poor are to be sold as food to the wealthy. As a result, he argues, not only will the population be reduced, but the income of the poor will increase significantly. Swift provides abundant detail, projecting the costs of child rearing, estimating the portion of the population affected, and even providing specific ideas regarding the number of servings a child might provide at the dinner table. Swift also suggests that the meat of the children of Ireland would be a "wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled" (443) and a delicacy to both the English and to Irish landowners, and would therefore be highly sought after for feasts and special occasions. The idea of cannibalism as the solution to the poverty and overpopulation in Ireland, where the high class the predator and the low class the prey, caused the two classes to be driven apart. The high class would have a great feast on holidays and the lower class "would have eight shilling net profit" (444) thereby, instilling the idea that Irish baby delicaclies are only meant for the rich. Swift's suggestion of devouring the Irish babies directly illustrates the belief that the wealthy lives at the expense of the poor.
Another way capitalism in Ireland dealt with its problems was that, since conflict between Irish Catholics and English Protestants existed at that time, there was a possibility that the Catholics Church had an influence on Ireland's economy. Swift reveals the sence of resentment towards the Irish Catholics by English Protestants who owned farms, charged high rents where the poor Irish men worked, and were unable to pay. The author also points out the problem and solution that, " there are more children born in Roman Catholic countries about nine months after Lent than at any other season; therefore, reckoning a year after Lent, the markets will be more glutted than usual, because the number of popish infants is at least three to one in this kingdom: and therefore it will have one other collateral advantage, by lessening the number of papists among us"(444). Swift exposes capitalism by the animosity towards the papists by wanting to reduce the amount of Catholic children in society and at the same time making profit from their childrens carcasses which he felt would be another way of dealing with the socioeconomic issue facing Ireland.
Furthermore, Jonathan Swift in A Modest Proposal, uses satire to attack governmental injustices and political abuse among social classes. The "hundred thousand useless mouths" (448) lower class were all "rags and importuning every passenger for an alms" (442) and living in filth because they were so poor was a burden to society. Their misfortune only grew because the higher class resided in England . The higher class made laws that benefited themselves but unfortunately was at the disadvantage of the poor. The rich only helped the rich inevitably making the poor even poorer. When Swift mentions that "I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich. I have no children by which I can propose to get a single penny" (448), he only referenced how the high in society and lawmakers make decisions. These decisions do not affect them personally but it would affect others drastically. The listed solutions addressed the problem in the sence that, the trade could help with economic and financial crisis, relieving the poor and providing for infants would help decrease the population of the lower class because they are a burden to society and put so change in their pockets, and give pleasure to the rich would allow for England to enjoy the benefits from Ireland. Swift projects a vision of injustice and inequality in the social classes and begged the "landlords to have at least one degree of mercy towards their tenants"(447).
Again, in A Modest Proposal, Swift employs dehumanizing phrases, comparing humans to animals and computing the price of their meat. Criticism of capitalism is so far placing a price on humanity. He uses terms such as 'breeder' and 'livestock' for the women and children and "recommends buying the children alive and dressing them hot from the knife, as we do roasting pigs"(444). The author was bizzare enough to compute a one-year-old baby's weight, being on the average only twenty-eight pounds, and the flesh being relatively expensive. The theme of prejudice against the lower classes is revealed in suggesting such a horrific idea that the carcasses of the poor children could also be used for clothing, women's gloves and boots. These carcasses, therefore, will be marketed primarily to Ireland's rich landlords, who, as Swift points out, they "have already devoured most of the Parents"(444) anyway. This means that the landlords (upper class) profited off the lower class by extracting so much from the Irish peasant, either in money or crops or both thereby ruined the lives of the parents and to top it up, by eating the children. Selling the Irish babies for food, would benefit the kingdom because " the nation's stock will be thereby increased fifty thousand pounds per annum" (446) and will contribute to the feeding and clothing of Ireland's massive population.
Swift's complaint about capitalist still hold weight because, modern day capitalism has seen complaints similar to Swift's time which was in the 1700's. In the United States, capitalist complain about the poor depending on government for food, clothing, shelter and healthcare. Advocates of capitalism believes the poor are lazy and are not willing to work. They relie heavily on Welfare that is food stamps to help the lower class buy food and section 8 housing assistance. The lower class desperately need Healthcare- for example Obamacare subsidies for survival. Taking away the subsidies, just like the idea of eating the Irish babies, will result in the sick dying because they would not be able afford paying their medical bills.
A modest proposal by Jonathan Swift proposes is a barbaric economic solution to a socio-economic problem in Ireland in the 1700's. The issue at the time was the cycle of poverty that afflicted the poor and the idea that this section of the population was useless and had nothing to offer to society. The problems Ireland at that time was battling was poverty along with overpopulation, hatred and inequality from Great Britain, and prejudice and discrimination. In line with Swift, capitalism for the most part has proposed economic solutions to most of its problems. Capitalist believes that at the right price, all of societal problems can solved even if the root cause of the problem is social rather than economic. In addition, Swift like many capitalists strongly believe that the poor are poor because of the fault of their own and should not be a burden of the state and possibly be left to die in order to save the rich from wasting their resources to help the poor. This is true even in modern day capitalist societies where the affluent do not want to make any concessions to help the poor.