A Modest Proposal The Proposer (Narrator) Quotes

I profess in the sincerity of my heart that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country […] and giving some pleasure to the rich. (35)

The narrator equates the public good of the country with pleasing the rich. What is wrong with this picture?

I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children. (12)

Swift alludes to an all-encompassing greed that includes both people and resources. In fact, people are viewed as resources in this context.

Secondly, the poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own, which by law may be made liable to distress and help to pay their landlord's rent, their corn and cattle being already seized, and money a thing unknown. (21)

Irish tenants frequently had to find alternative methods of paying rent, since money was scarce.