Galt's Gulch

A Modest Proposal

Posted by khalling 9 years, 2 months ago to Philosophy
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This is a famous example of making a provocative point or argument. I post this for illustrative purposes in making a point that has some shock value, but NOT shock for shock's sake which often confuses, is illogical and does not make a productive point. He was criticizing English policy against Ireland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Pr...
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  • Posted by ObjectiveAnalyst 9 years, 2 months ago
    Yikes! Some biting satire. Reminds me of a few things- Silence of the Lambs... "...with some fava beans and a nice chianti." Or, Scrooge- “If they would rather die, . . . they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”
    ― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
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    • Posted by khalling 9 years, 2 months ago
      you were the other gulcher I was trying to snare. ha! In the case of Dickens, Swift came back from the grave to address Dickens' Eugenic position. This is often a confusing argument, since many think Dickens was actually taking a stand against Malthus. I never bought that. I think he knew his own opinions on the subject he would accuse the "enemy" of making (famous anti-Semitic) while actually holding the agenda himself. He was a supporter of forced abortions for those in poorhouses. Not unlike a Sanger who publicly was a champion for the same people she wanted to see wiped out.
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  • Posted by Lucky 9 years, 2 months ago
    Ah yes, Jonathan Swift, writer of Gulliver's travels.
    The great satirist. The narrow minded would ban it, but certainly in Swift's case, he is making important if non-obvious points.
    The poverty in Ireland was severe, clearly due to the brutal policies of the English. It went on for centuries, perhaps until the government of Eire liberated the economy.
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