A Modest Proposal

Although Jonathan Swift was satirizing the English prejudice towards the Irish in "A Modest Proposal", his grisly theme applies to our contemporary world as well. We may pay lip service to nurturing children, but our culture demonstrates a less wholesome reality. Today, children are exploited by an economy that prefers profiting from their buying power to providing for their well-being, a media that sells them violence, and in many regions of the world, a military that teaches them to become heroes by sacrificing their lives. Every day, we read of new horrors perpetrated against children. I have come to the conclusion that ours is an age that is consuming its own young. Swift makes his point not through righteous indignation, but rather through humor. This is disarming and allows us to ingest his message without gagging on its bitter taste. In a musical analogy, I have chosen to use nursery songs as the basis of the musical fabric, illuminating the text with an ongoing commentary by the orchestra. Thus, the most horrific words are couched in the seemingly benign melody of child?s innocent ditty. These are the songs used: "Three Blind Mice"; "Old McDonald Had A Farm"; "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"; "Pop Goes The Weasel"; "Fr