A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift review: My personal thoughts of the text as a whole and its relevance to today’s society. Plus, a little comparison of a slightly more recent text of similar themes…
A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, written in 1730 to point out the cruelty of the British rule towards the impoverished Irish, is as comical as it is horrorid to read.
Ever heard of “Eat the Rich”? Well let’s switch that to “Eat the poor.” Which is much more likely to happen anyways. It already is.
The story is from the perspective of a good willed economic projector suggesting that the best way to take care of the rats of Ireland (aka the poor) is to have infants fatten up and sent to be eaten by the lords and wealthy British. Honestly, I thought it was a pretty funny text to read because of how gruesome and absurd some of it was. But it is also a good text to think critically about.
Swift used his skills in writing to create a story featuring the Irish poor sacficing their young, described as burdsome, to the British wealth as a representation of the British exploitation of the Irish poor leading to disease, famine, beggars, and poor livihoods. I could spend time talking about the history and context of the writing, but I’d rather go into what the work made me think of.
Connection to our Society
In our world, in our own Country the United States, there are homeless, poor, immigrants, and an ever-growing working class that is used to the wealthy’s benefit in more ways than just profit. When I say wealthy, I more mean the elite. The few billionaires, politicians, and companies that withhold resources for no more reason than to keep the poor poor and the rich rich.
In our own state, there is an illusion of class. The homeless, the working class, the middle class, and the rich. I argue that there is only the working class and the rich. The working class that the rich keep poor through minimum wage, creation of false enemies (such as Trump with immigrants), and the abuse of taxation. Much like the British with the Irish.
Instead of true taxation based on income, raising wages, distributions billions of dollars to community and the people of our country, we are instead prompted to turn against our own people (legal vs. non-legal; homeless vs working; college educated vs. not college educated; democrat vs republican), raise our children to think about how they will make money in the future (rather than just pursing their favorite interest or best skill) all so the wealthy can keep their wealth and continue to use the common people to build on, regardless of their quality of life.
There are protestors and people who stand and shout “EAT THE RICH” but still are forced to return to the lifestyle where the Rich. Eat. US.
A First Rate Material
Every heard of A First Rate Material by Sayaka Murata? If you haven’t, here’s a little summary.
A world where people, after they died, are turned into products for the living to use. A wife/fiancé, who loves using human made products, is trying to convince her husband, who is disturbed and disgusted by the idea, to start purchasing human products as a sign of wealth and status. The story’s themes are about consumption, normality, and inviduvualism. But I’m not really talking about the themes of the story, I would like to relate it back to work that I am talking about and a bit more on how it relates to our world.
