Response to Swift
The
exploding population of the impoverished in 18th century Ireland
caused many to search for answers; one of the more popular proposals was made
by Dr. Jonathan Swift. Passing by begging mothers flanked by a half dozen
children was a sight all too common. Seeing such misery could negatively alter
the mood of any passing lord. Thankfully Dr. Swift was a man of vision and came
up with a solution that would be beneficial to all involved. The impoverished
masses could become useful providers of goods, in the form of their young
delicious babies. Swift saw human offspring as a useful untapped resource. The
primary usefulness as delicacy for those with refined palates, second the fine
soft leather could be used for exquisite gloves and boots. This would improve
the station of the impoverished by providing a steady income to fertile women
and preventing their mistreatment out of fear of harming their stock.
Swift’s
suggestion despite being very persuasive is most certainly not meant to be
taken seriously. He is trying to compare the treatment of the impoverished to
that of livestock. His goal is to rub the land owners' noses in the inhumane
way they treat their fellow man. Seeing the absurdist comparison of treating humans
as livestock could potentially cause the lords to think a bit deeper about how they
should treat other people.
His
suggestion is very logical. He has many examples of this kind of solution being
used by others in the past. A long list of potential positives outcomes are
clearly outlined, and the only thing that truly stands in the way of this being
a very persuasive proposal is morality. The example of the man from the island Formosa
(now known as Taiwan) telling the story of how when young people were executed
their meat was sold as a delicacy, is both an example and an insult. Comparing
lords in Ireland to savages in a far east pacific island was probably very
effective at a time when xenophobia was still very much alive.
If you have been persuaded by Dr. Swifts proposal you might find the following link on proper preparation of human meat useful.
I find it funny that the butchering link does much of what Mr. Swift's writing did. It began with the subject humans, but then moved to regarding the humans as livestock.
ReplyDeleteHey Cason..first of all..wow! You write beautifully! You did a great job summarizing the text as well. My favorite part was when you talked about the landowners treating the poor inhumanely, and that they are compared to livestock. And the fact that you drew the correlation between savages to lords was awesome..i didnt even think of that! Great job..you helped me to think more about my own rough draft! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteTo start, I like the fact that you threw in the link. It added some humor to this quite horrendous proposal. The first time reading this in high school I was quite repulsed when he was comparing the life of a human being to that of a farm animal that was to quickly be terminated to feed the hungry public. I also have to agree with the fact that he was using many statistics and support so that his proposal would actually sound like a reasonable plan.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading you thoughts on Swift. I believe you hit the nail on the head regarding Swift's purpose. He was making a statement to the wealthy about their inhuman treatment of the less fortunate by offering a solution that reflects that heartlessness. I also must say that your link is fabulous! Thanks for the great post. :)
ReplyDeleteCason you did a great job, love the link. I like the way you differentiated using savages and lords, versus the poor and the wealthy. The link gave some extra humor which helped out the immoral and grotesque wording of Swift.
ReplyDeleteHello Carson,
ReplyDeleteWow what a funky link, which truly is bizarre that something like that exists; at first I thought it was just a little joke or something not true but it surprised me no doubt! I agree that one cannot take Swift’s ideas seriously after all he is comparing human life to that of livestock and treating people like cattle. This suggestion is logical and he truly did take some time to think on this subject. Great job!
You really have a way with words, I have to agree with you on it being a logical argument. I know some people said it wasn't logical, due to it being immoral and the fact that he wasn't serious, but his statistics and pros really were quite logical. I liked your comment on the island of Formosa, I hadn't thought of that as being an insult but you're totally right! Love the link by the way!
ReplyDelete