A Modest Proposal & other short pieces including A Tale of a Tub

"A Modest Proposal", by Jonathan Swift, is a biting satire about life in 18th Century Ireland, in which the author seeks to find "a fair, cheap, and easy method" to transform the sick and starving children of Ireland into productive members of society. Swift's proposal, hardly modest, is to fatten up undernourished poor children and then sell them to more well-to-do families as food. By presenting this outrageous concept as an interrelated string of seemingly logical arguments, Swift leads the reader to understand that his proposal could simultaneously solve overpopulation and unemployment, save the poor from having to spend their meager resources on raising children, provide the poor with desperately needed extra income, and also give the wealthy access to a yet untapped high-protein delight. Of course, Swift is writing tongue-in-cheek, to shock the reader into rejecting his outrageous negative proposal and instead formulate a more sensible positive one. Although written in 1729, Swift's essay is still relevant in the 21st Century. For a really good and very quick read that repulses, amuses, and challenges you to think, I highly recommend this classic work.