This is a very interesting question that causes us to look
beyond the historical context in which this tremendous treatise was based and see if it
still has any relevance for us today. One of the marks of universal literature is the
way in which it continues to speak to people in a variety of different time periods and
contexts, and the fact that this essay is still studied just as much today as it was
then clearly points towards its inestimable value.
This
essay's historical value is characterised in the satire that it contains. Swift attempts
to show the British how inhumane they are being by ignoring the situation of the Irish
famine by presenting a deliberately monstrous "solution" to solve this social issue. The
abhorrent idea that he presents was meant to act as a mirror to the British so that in
this idea they could see too their own abhorrence and involvement in not doing anything
to appease the situation.
However, this essay has relevance
to any human disasters resulting from bereaucratic incompetence around the world.
Consider the issue of global warming and the lamentable lack of interest that the USA
showed in the Kyoto agreement of 1997. This would be an excellent topic for an updated
"Modest Proposal." Situations such as this show that we still have a lot to learn from
Swift's original essay, and it is still immensely valuable to us for this
reason.
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