Paragraphs 13 to 20 develop six advantages of Swift’s proposal, while paragraphs 24 to 26 list them in an enumerative manner. Analyze the progression of these propositions. What is the effects of the listing? Why is Swift parodying argumentative techniques?

Explanation:

A Modest Proposal," Jonathan Swift's devastating, classic satire, is aimed squarely at British mistreatment of their fellow Irish. It specifically attacks the prevailing mercantilist notion that human beings comprise the wealth of a nation, which allowed the exploitation of child labor at terribly low wages. The horrifying concept of children as a delectable menu item for gourmet consumption is Swift's reductio ad absurdum of this mercantilist commodification of human beings.

The first of the advantages of such a scheme, he says, will be a reduction in the number of Papists, as Irish Catholics were described, who reproduce at a high rate and pose a political threat to the British.

Second, children will be a valuable commodity to tenant farmers, whose produce and livestock have already been seized by rack-rent landlords.

Third, Ireland's gross domestic product will be "increased 50 thousand pounds per annum" by the export of child-flesh, "and the Money will circulate among our selves, the Goods being entirely of our own Growth and Manufacture."

Fourth, "The constant Breeders," aside from gaining eight shillings, will be relieved of the expense of maintaining them after their first year.

Fifth, this amazing new delicacy would increase the business of taverns, which would employ "skillful" chefs to create novel recipes for the palates of gourmands accustomed to paying high prices for the finest fare.

Sixth, it would enhance the status of marriage, and improve the care of children by their parents, since they were sure of a "Settlement for Life." It would also provoke a competition among women.

He argues that children could be sold into a meat market as early as the age of one, giving poor families some much needed income, while sparing them the expenses of raising so many children. With 100,000 Irish children out of the population being set aside for dinner, his solution, he reasons, will also help to resolve the issues of overpopulation and unemployment in Ireland, giving the Irish economy a much needed boost, while making it easier for England to deal with its unruly Irish subjects.

Swift then goes on to offer statistical support for his proposal and specific data about the number of children to be sold, their weight and price, and the projected eating patterns of their consumers. He even suggests some recipes for preparing this delicious new meat, reasoning that, with innovative cooks generating ever more and delicious new dishes, it will expand and improve the culinary experience of the wealthy, resulting in a healthier and happier population as a whole.

'A Modest Proposal' ends with the argument that the practice of selling and eating children will have positive effects on Irish family morality: husbands will treat their wives with more respect, and parents will value their children in ways as yet unknown. His proposal, he argues, will, if implemented, do more to solve Ireland's complex social, political and economic problems than any other measure that has yet been proposed.

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