Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' is a satirical critique of English political indifference toward the impoverished Irish, highlighting the struggles of families who turn to begging to survive. Swift ironically suggests that poor Irish parents should sell their children as food to wealthy families, aiming to shock readers into recognizing the dire social and economic conditions faced by the Irish community. Through this extreme suggestion, he emphasizes the idiocy of current political solutions while exposing the hypocrisy and degradation inflicted upon the Irish people.