300 Years Later and Still Hungry...

I remember reading “A Modest Proposal” for the first time in high school and was deeply disturbed by the material. Later I found out this piece was a satire and was dramatically used to get a point across. When I found this out, I was better able to understand the depth of the material and how he crafted his argument in a startling way.

I love finding how literature written so long ago can still apply in some way to our modern culture. I believe Swift is accurate his depiction of how people in poverty might have no choice in the options they have to survive. It is interesting because Swift’s “modest” proposal is quite the opposite. It would be a drastic measure for people living in poverty to survive; however, it brings light to the situation of something drastic must be done so they do not have to live in poverty. He sends out the message of a change is needed in order to progress in their country. The same situation is applicable today. How many people are hungry and struggling to survive not only in our country but also the world as a whole? It begs the question what are we actively doing to reduce said hunger? I mean I know there are many organizations doing their part, such as Kalamazoo Fishes and Loaves, but that’s not enough to alleviate the amount of suffering people. Maybe Swift’s “modest proposal” needs to be redistributed to the public to make people realize what an issue world hunger is in our society. Obviously people who read this without its background find it revolting to read, yet they do nothing to help the problem Swift is trying to shed light upon.  World hunger is a problem in this society and community, and we need to actively be a part of the change.

Here is an interesting article that takes thoughts from Jonathan Swift and applies it to modern day culture: http://cornellsun.com/blog/2008/01/24/a-modest-proposal-mixs-solution-to-world-hunger/