A Modest Proposal is a satirical essay that puts forth the idea that in order to solve the problem of mass starvation of children in Ireland they should be treated like cattle.The author makes the purposefully absurd assumption that there is food to give children and that it is just being held back because kids aren't worth anything. Thought of as cattle they would be valuable and therefore worth feeding prior to being sold to be eaten. Swift takes it even further by analyzing the potential economic impact upon Ireland if the country had a new cash source (in the form of kids), and does the math for the reader.
