The Deeper Meaning Of "A Modest Proposal" (blog post 5)

       "A Modest Proposal" uses the utmost sarcastic tone to uncover the truth about poverty, along with the ironic title. Jonathan Swift includes inhumane actions like cannabolism to symbolize how humans viewed poverty during his time. Demonstrated by his writing, he believed that the average human mind portrayed the poor as a burden on society. Swift lived in a time of minor ecomonic depression and wide ranged social classes. The wealthy had mass amounts of money while the poor had next to absolutely nothing. The middle class did not average out nearly as much as the difference between the rich and the poor. Jonathan Swift's piece seems so universal because even though it was written so long ago, it relates to our society's problems today. The gap in social classes along with slowly recovering from an economic crisis, mirrors the problems Swift is trying to reveal in his masterpiece.
        The opinions of today could be very similar or very opposite from the views of Jonathan's time. Some wealthy individuals believe that they have worked for their luxury and deserve to flaunt it as they please. However, others believe in helping the less fortunate to get them to a better lifestyle. In my opinion, the moral thing to do is to physically and emotionally want to help someone that has less than you, get on their feet into a better direction. Although one may have worked hard for their success in life, it does not mean they can just brush off a part of humanity or criticize it. Many people may not have the ability or chance to achieve many things in life, but it certainly does not make them a burden to society. Instead of complaining with wanting them out of existence or wishing the problem away, action needs to be taken in positive steps. Swift's point to us readers is wealthy people with a selfish and arrogant attitude about a tradgic issue within society only places a burden on those people as a whole.
         Sitting back and complaining about something doesn't help to make it disappear. Instead, giving any service little or drastic, can work towards mending the issue. Unfortunately, poverty in general is a tragedy that may never go away completely. So as Swift said, leave them be unless you are willing to help them in a positive action. Otherwise, they cause absolutely no harm to society so they don't deserve to be shamed. I believe that Jonathan Swift would of hoped for steps towards equality within social classes for the future as do I.
     

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