Why does Swift propose in A Modest Proposal?

Swift proposes in "A Modest Proposal" that poor Irish families should sell their infant children to be eaten by the wealthy. This proposal is meant to highlight the extreme poverty and desperation facing the Irish people at the time, as well as to criticize the British government's oppressive policies towards Ireland. Swift uses irony and satire to shock readers into recognizing the cruelty and absurdity of the situation.