The reaction to the "eat the babies" stunt highlights a lack of media literacy, as many conservative commentators and YouTubers treated the satire as a genuine leftist proposal. This modern incident is compared to Jonathan Swift's 1729 essay, "A Modest Proposal," which suggested the Irish poor sell their children as food to the rich as a satirical critique of economic policy. The discussion also touches on 1980s media reports regarding the impoverished eating dog food during the Reagan administration.
