With all the talk of budget cuts and austerity, affecting most severely "the least of these", rather than the 1%, or even the 10%, and whether poor people are deserving or undeserving, and whether hard-working people who labor for low wages should be given help to make ends meet in the midst of their struggles, and protecting fetuses in the womb, but showing little concern for already-born babies and children, Jonathan Swift's shocking essay titled "A Modest Proposal" returns again and again to my mind. I could have gone on and on about the injustices in our society, but I believe I've made my point.I brushed aside the thought of the essay, but it kept coming back, so I decided to write about it after all. Swift's satire was quite difficult for me to reread, for it bites and bites hard. Since I can't bring myself to quote Swift's words, I leave it to you to read or not.
Image from Wikipedia.
oh. ick. ugh..... it does bite hard.
ReplyDeletePerhaps we should send copies to our State and Federal representatives, heh?
Horrifying, isn't it, margaret? I wonder if the reps would "get it" or if they'd think I was a monster advocating for cannibalism.
DeleteYou do know Swift was at no time seriously advocating eating babies, right? I've never heard of such a pained reaction before, amusement is the more usual one.
ReplyDeleteRuss, of course I know Swift was not advocating eating babies.
DeleteSwift's satire was quite difficult for me to reread, for it bites and bites hard.
The essay put me too much in mind of the callousness in this country. And, as I said, the satire bites. No, I can't be amused. I believe Swift was quite serious, but, of course, he did not intend his words to be taken literally.
What strikes me most is that all of Swift's outrage is still quite up to date 300 years later. The rapaciousness of the greedy and the callous is as ferocious now as it was then.
DeleteRuss, I agree. As I reread the essay twice, I was struck by how well Swift's words apply to the current situation. Because the essay was about babies and children, it brought to mind the hypocrisy of those who scream loudest about abortion and yet oppose sex education and readily available contraceptives. And those same opponents of abortion are calling for austerity, which results in cuts to vital programs that serve babies and children.
Deleteum, I've always found Swift's essay quite sly and funny, I'm afraid. But then I don't have children myself.
ReplyDeleteThere you go, Cathy. You and Russ have a similar response to the essay. I doubt it has to do with whether a person has children or not. After all, satire is a type of humor.
DeleteThere's an episode of "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" where a troll inquires where he might partake of some "delicious babies". [Spike, the vampire, helpfully suggests "Hospital?" ;-p]
ReplyDeleteSwift is Classic. And TRUE.
Indeed he is, JCF.
Delete