Response to Swift

I feel that from this passage, Swift is trying to distill some integrity into the Irish society.  Mainly, the upper and middle class society that “ controls” the economy.  He feels that they are falling weak, and should take a stand and fight for their nation.  Not just a stand for themselves, the so-called rich,  which would be a contradiction to his speech, but for the whole nation.  His suggestions about feeding on young humans is not a realistic idea.  Instead, it is a comparison to what the he feels his society is doing to itself.  Letting someone, or something, take over is an abomination, just as eating an infant, is an abomination.  

The purpose for this suggestion, was to give an example that would provoke emotions from his audience.  The emotion he expects from the same audience had he been talking about his actual concerns.  Basically, he is making fun of his audience, thinking that they have no drive or emotion to care about the problems right in front of their face, he has to make some abhorring comparison to cannibalism in order to make his point and receive a response.

His solution to the problem starts with the poor and the poor reproducing.  His point is that either there should be some kind of population control, or governmental interference when the poor population starts to boom.  He reasoning is that they have less opportunity that the rest of the society and the middle class landlords and upper-class have no care to control what they let happen, nor take action to prevent it.  Both of these careless acts causing the destruction of the nation internally.  To breed, is simply pointless, the offspring have no future the further down the family chain they are, creating a strain on the economy.

He gives verbatim evidence to his proposition.  This is his stance, hence his Swiftian irony, is a balanced view, he is using the babies as a form of bait and weapon against the people, or audience he is intending to reach.  He wants to say the grotesque things he is saying, but in a way that in the end will trigger a response to the higher and middle class audience he is trying to reach. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal

To serve man? Or to "serve" man? That is the question

http://www.hellblazer.com/media/to_serve_man_apron-p154819963460785658q6wc_400.jpg