Synopsis Expand/Collapse Synopsis In "A Modest Proposal," first published in 1729, Jonathan Swift heaps scorn on then-current political theory and reveals the appalling suffering taking place in Ireland - not through direct reporting, but through mock suggestions on what to do with the poor; they should sell their children for food. "The chief end I propose to myself in all my labors is to vex the world rather than divert it," wrote Jonathan Swift in a letter to his friend Alexander Pope. Other vexing works collected here are "Directions to Servants," "The Art of Political Lying," "A Digression Concerning the Critics," and "Sweetness and Light."