“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift In Jonathan Swift’s essay “A Modest Proposal” he provides a satirical look at how to address the issue of the poor in Ireland. Poverty, however, is not the only issue of his time as there is also a question of moral issues among the people, both poor and rich. The focus of Swift’s writing is to unburden both parents and the economy of the over population of children, “instead of being a charge upon their parents or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall on the contrary contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing, of many thousands” (Swift 3). Swift used this theme of unjust behavior to announce how tragic and real these issues were, he brought poverty into prospective and ridiculed society all at once. Swift starts out his proposal with a back ground description of just what it would be like to simply walk down a street in Ireland and see all the misfortune that was surrounding so many people. Poverty here was not a hidden problem it was not something that took investigation to see it was very noticeable yet no one was looking for a solution. It can be inferred that the upper class, a good example would be the landlords, were being greedy and irresponsible governing their land from England. Swift pokes fun at the landlords and England’s mistreatment of Ireland in general when he states “I grant this food may be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children” (Swift 11). This proposal supported bring money back into Ireland, “and the money will circulate among ourselves, the goods being entirely of our own growth and manufacture” (Swift 24). Society was harshly criticized throughout this essay. A big problem that was presented was the immoral behavior of the poor