As you take it

I can only imagine that if Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" were composed in an email today and he didn't include a smiley face emoticon or xml-esqe notation to duly announce the satirical nature of the piece, likely those offended by its suggestions would forward the message with wild abandon (because there's nothing that people who delight in their own indignation enjoy more than stirring up the ire of everyone in their address books).

Were it posted in a blog that was not duly identified as satire, the twelve people who still read things on the 'net (rather than spending all their time looking at YouTube) might respond by leaving comments filled with outrage and offense (except the one cannibal in that group who would inquire if Swift could direct him to a good recipe for infant fricassee, as that Google search gives no suitable results).

If it were presented on television by a commentator with no disclaimer running along the bottom of the screen with the words "satire--do not take seriously" looping the entire time, almost certainly groups would rally in protest and force the network to fire the person (and the director and the producer) by the next day. (The only reason it would take that long is because it wouldn't get much attention until someone posted it on YouTube and then others forwarded the link to all their friends.)

However, with proper announcement of its satirical intent, a couple intellectuals would smirk and think it slightly amusing, and everyone else would dismiss it as "just not being that funny."