Swift's Proposal Compared to Modern Day Soceity

We were discussing "Swift's Proposal" in Culture class this evening, in my response to Swift's satirical suggestions to the Irish people and government during that time period.

Unnervingly, how anyone could think of such a thing, but Swift's proposal was to fatten up undernourished children, and then feed them to the rich land owners. Hopefully this was in jest.

As he claims children could be sold on the markets as soon as they were of the age of one. This was his solution to the overpopulation, lack of food supply, and the unemployment rates. His satire went as far as to devise out an entire plan, with prices on the children heads going by their weight, even as far as providing recipes.

Overall he claimed this would resolve Ireland's social and economical problems.

All of this satire came forth from Swift's disgust with the rich Irish people, and government who were very passive and rather than resolving the problem, overlooked it. Swift had made some good suggestions with tax proposals to help better the situation.

The same problems definitely exist today, in regards to over population, especially in cities with so many minorities being pushed through the school systems, with no jobs once they are out. The country is out of balance with those who are exceedingly rich, or one person doing the same thing as another yet getting paid double. So much money is being spent on fighting over seas, dumped into government spending while the poor and the needy and our own sick are not being taken care of.

I will go as far as to use a modern day example from today's music, which can be considered satire, but just as well talks of things that are wrong in our society, albeit an alternative rock song, from System of a Down.

I've been walking through your streets,
Where all you moneys earning,
Where all your buildings crying,
And clueless neckties working,
Revolving fake lawn houses,
Housing all your fears,
Desensitized by TV,
Overbearing advertising,
God of consumerism,
And all your crooked pictures,
Looking good, mirror-ism,
Filtering information,
For the public eye,
Designed for profiteering,
Your neighbor, what a guy.

Boom, boom, boom, boom,
Every time you drop the bomb,
You kill the God your child has born.
Boom, boom, boom, boom.

Modern globalization,
Coupled with condemnations,
Unnecessary death,
Matador corporations,
Puppeting your frustrations,
With the blinded flag,
Manufacturing consent
Is the name of the game,
The bottom line is money,
Nobody gives a fuck.
4000 hungry children die per hour,
From starvation,
While billions spent on bombs,
Create death showers.

Boom, boom, boom, boom,
Every time you drop the bomb,
You kill the God your child has born.
Boom, boom, boom, boom
Boom/boom/boom/boom/boom/boom/boom

Why, why, why, why must we kill, kill, kill, kill, our own, own, own, own kind...

Boom, boom, boom, boom,
Every time you drop the bomb,
You kill the God your child has born.
Boom, boom, boom, boom
Boom/boom/boom/boom/boom/boom/boom/boom
Every time you drop the bomb.