Eating Babies as a Way to Solve Economic Issues?

Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal was not too alarming to read the second time around. I had read it once before in high school but in a different format - that of a comic. However, both had the same impact and I found it interesting as well as slightly amusing to see the proposal itself. To eat humans? It was an idea that of course no one would think of, despite how it would truly eliminate many of our troubles. The only reason as to why nobody would ever accept this proposal is because no one wants to die and because religion and beliefs prevent us from taking any action that would hurt someone unjustly - well, for most people anyway.

The proposal was interesting to look at, especially since the author was sure to back up his argument with solid statistics and mathematical proofs. He calculated that the population would actually be making a profit off of his idea and that it would be beneficial for everyone. Instead of having children who resorted to being beggars just as their parents before them, they could actually be sold off to meat factories. The idea itself is gruesome and simply imagining it was unrealistic to me. The only part that I found a little strange to me was when he mentioned having teenagers suffer the same fate, the idea being discarded simply because the teens were not as tasty. I definitely would not like to die in that manner, if anything.