And now for a short lesson in History, Literature, and Cooking.

Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" (thanks to Quel for pointing this out) is one of the most well-known English satires in history. It talks about cooking year-old babies in order to solve Ireland's problems of poverty, population, and underemployment, and the sincere tone of the essay sharply contrasts with its satirical content. My favorite line in the essay reads,

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.

It's a great read. The essay is well-crafted and makes its point in an original way.

I can imagine how someone would be tempted to implement such a policy here in the Philippines--"Let's make people who don't contribute to society lessen their genepool, please. We can even get more baby recipes at eatbabies.com!"

Scary, when you think about it too much, because in the recesses of your mind you can sometimes see the logic of it all. Heh.