“I have been assured by a very knowing American... that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food.” — Jonathan Swift With biting irony and ruthless logic, Jonathan Swift delivers one of the most shocking and brilliant works of satire ever written. In A Modest Proposal, Swift confronts the indifference of the wealthy and powerful toward the plight of the poor by presenting an outrageous “solution” to hunger and poverty. Beneath its grotesque suggestion lies a powerful critique of social inequality, moral corruption, and political apathy that still resonates today.