Book · 2020 · Fiction
A Modest Proposal
A Modest Proposal: Satirical Reflections on Society's Woes by Jonathan Swift
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Do the Jonathan Swift "Modest Proposal" from a few centuries ago, I think the 1700s, when he satirically suggested that, I think it's in Ireland, that the children of poor people are fed as food to the rich people.
Lex Fridman · Lex Fridman Podcast · Dec 2023 Listen at 1:06:06 The best things said about it
Then I also think it's a question of length like a modest proposal which is an essay this is very spherical essay where he proposes people just like eating babies as a solution to I guess too many um too many children um uh who are in poverty.
Jerusalem Demsas Conversations with Tyler · Sep 2023 I remember reading letter from Birmingham jail as a kid Jonathan Swift Modest Proposal as a kid and Tupac me against the world.
He um came up with a modest proposal in 1729, and he'd written a bunch of essays about how the Irish were starving and how they needed help, and he just got crickets in return. And then he wrote a modest proposal, and in it he basically talks about how the Irish just need to eat their babies.
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Why people recommend it
A Modest Proposal is a satirical essay by Jonathan Swift that uses extreme hyperbole to criticize economic injustice and indifference toward the impoverished. Josh Clark mentioned the 1729 work on Stuff You Should Know to illustrate the nature and impact of historical satire, noting that after receiving no response to his serious essays about starving people in Ireland, Swift instead suggested that the Irish should eat their babies. On the Lex Fridman Podcast, Lex Fridman drew an analogy to how an AGI might view humans, referencing Swift's centuries-old proposal where poor children were suggested as food for the rich. Jerusalem Demsas referenced the essay on Conversations with Tyler to compare Swift's essay writing style with his longer works, highlighting its spherical structure proposing baby consumption as a solution to poverty. Additionally, Eddie Huang shared on The Joe Rogan Experience that Swift's essay was a formative piece of reading from his childhood that influenced his early ambitions to write.
Every mention
Eddie Huang I remember reading letter from Birmingham jail as a kid Jonathan Swift Modest Proposal as a kid and Tupac m… 1
“I remember reading letter from Birmingham jail as a kid Jonathan Swift Modest Proposal as a kid and Tupac me against the world”
Jerusalem Demsas then I also think it's a question of length like a modest proposal which is an essay this is very spherical… 1
“then I also think it's a question of length like a modest proposal which is an essay this is very spherical essay where he proposes people just like eating babies as a solution to I guess too many um too many children um uh who are in poverty”
Josh Clark He um came up with a modest proposal in 1729, and he'd written a bunch of essays about how the Irish were s… 1
“He um came up with a modest proposal in 1729, and he'd written a bunch of essays about how the Irish were starving and how they needed help, and he just got crickets in return. And then he wrote a modest proposal, and in it he basically talks about how the Irish just need to eat their babies”
Lex Fridman Do the Jonathan Swift "Modest Proposal" from a few centuries ago, I think the 1700s, when he satirically su… 1
“Do the Jonathan Swift "Modest Proposal" from a few centuries ago, I think the 1700s, when he satirically suggested that, I think it's in Ireland, that the children of poor people are fed as food to the rich people.”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (4: passing, ad reads, own books)
“The dean of nearby St. Patrick's Cathedral was Jonathan Swift, the extremely well- reggarded author of Guliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal.”
“I was actually talking about Jonathan Swift. author of A Modest Proposal. But yeah, but in my heart, I really don't think she's coming.”
“it opens with a quote from Genesis but then goes right into a Jonathan Swift quote after that and so she's kind of setting forward what she's doing here is is the A Modest Proposal”
“Uh, did you know that um a modest proposal is proof uh of government's conspiracy to eat babies? I mean, have you ever eaten an Irish baby? Delicious. Obviously, I have. I'm part of the conspiracy.”