# A Modest Proposal

_For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick_

By Jonathan Swift.

"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift is a satirical essay written and published in 1729. The work shockingly suggests that Ireland's poor could solve their economic troubles by selling their children as food to the wealthy. Through sustained irony and deadpan humor, Swift uses this outrageous premise to mock hostile attitudes toward the poor and expose the dehumanizing policies of British colonial rule. The essay remains celebrated for its dark wit and biting social commentary. (Summary by Project Gutenberg, written by machine.)

- Language: English
- Subjects: Political satire, English; Religious satire, English; Ireland -- Politics and government -- 18th century -- Humor

[Read it](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/books/gutenberg/1080/read)
[Plain text](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/api/books/gutenberg/1080/text)

## Audiobooks of it

- [Modest Proposal](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/books/librivox/177) by Jonathan Swift (27 min, English)

From Project Gutenberg. Public domain in the United States.