Exactly what is "A Modest Proposal" by Dr. Jonathan Swift about?

This is a satirical essay in which Swift is criticizing
the English government for the way that it treats its subjects in
Ireland.

The way that Swift does this is by presenting this
plan that he supposedly has for helping the Irish economy and the people of the island
in general.  He proposes that the Irish poor should start selling their young children
to the rich to be eaten.

By proposing such an outrageous
thing, Swift is trying to show people of his day how the English government has been
neglecting and mistreating the people of Ireland.  He lists various things that the
government is not willing to do to help.  Instead, he puts forward his "modest proposal"
and pretends that he truly believes in it.