Question by wha?: Can anyone help me with some questions I have about John Swifts “A Modest Proposal”?
Well the paragraph going with this question is short:

What are some of the ussumptions underlying paragraph 7?
“I am assured byour merchants, that a boy or a girl before twelve years old is no salable commoditiy; and even when they come to this age they will not yeild above 3euros or 3 euroes.2s.6d.(note: this is some form of currency) at most on the exchange: which cannot turn to account either to the parents or kingdom,the change of nutriment and rags having been at least four times that value”

My answer is that:
There is the assumtion that children are poor and that children are commodities; that after a certain age( according to the reading over 1 years old) children arent’ worth anything or the trouble.

Is this right? Can anyone elaborate on this answer or clean it up?

Best answer:

Answer by Cloverfield Monster
You have to take the whole work into account, and you have to kind of know the history in Ireland at that time. There were many poor people and they were having tons of children. Swift is saying that he has a “modest proposal”. Basically they are going to raise babies to one year old, which wouldn’t cost much becuase you can just feed them natural milk from the mom. Once they are one year of age, they will be made into food and or clothing. At 6 they can pick pocket and any older they aren’t worth very much and they cost more than what you can gain by selling them, so you must sell them when they are babies to Americans.

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