Final answer:
A modern audience would likely be less offended by Swift's proposal because they would understand it as a satirical piece of writing rather than a serious suggestion.
Step-by-step explanation:
A modern audience would likely be less offended by Swift's proposal because they would understand it as a satirical piece of writing rather than a serious suggestion. Swift's proposal, titled 'A Modest Proposal,' was published in 1729 and suggests that the Irish poor should sell their children as food to the wealthy as a solution to poverty and overpopulation. While this proposal was shocking and offensive at the time, a modern audience would recognize the exaggerated nature of Swift's argument and its purpose to critique social and economic conditions in Ireland during that period.