English Comp 111
15 February 2015
Finding a Solution to Poverty
Are we doing enough to eliminate poverty and help the poor? How are people still starving with all of the sources we have as a country? Poverty exists for many reasons including: lack of education, unemployment, housing, and money. There are no overnight solutions to this world wide epidemic, but some of our leaders are just as much to blame by turning their heads rather than finding the solutions. According to statistics one out of eight individuals suffers from malnutrition. This means that out of 7 billion people in the world, 870 million are still underfed. In Jonathan Swift’s “Modern Proposal” essay, he snubs the Irish and English rulers for their economic policies concerning the poor. Swift explains that they are not dealing with the issue of poverty in Ireland by refusing to create a solution. Citizens and those in power need to create lasting solutions to end poverty in our nation.
Jonathan Swift essay, “Modern Proposal” presents solutions to keep poor children from being a burden to their families. The English government turned their heads to the deplorable economic conditions in which the people were living in and he hated the inhumanity that he witnessed. Ireland was in dire poverty and most of the victims were women and children that were beggars (630-631). So Swift devised a number of proposal and solutions to rid Ireland of this problem. Swifts argues that poor children would be better off being eaten as food rather than wondering the streets of Ireland begging. According to Swift, “A young healthy well nursed child would make nourishing and wholesome food.” For example, he explains that a child can make two servings as entertainment for friends and claims that their skins would make good boots (632-634). I must admit that these suggestions do sound unrealistic because, I