Rich businessman: Unemployment must increase by 50% to show lazy, arrogant workers we’re the boss.

Australian tycoon, the wealthy capitalist Tim Gurner, insults the working class as he admits governments around the world are working on behalf of the rich to increase unemployment.

Rich businessman: Unemployment must increase.

Australian businessman Tim Gurner, one of the wealthiest individuals in Australia, openly voiced the belief held by many rich people that to correct what they see as a power imbalance, unemployment rates should be deliberately increased by 40 to 50 percent, causing economic pain to “remind people that they work for the employer not the other way around.” He perceives the current state as one where employees undervalue their employers.

Gurner argues that the COVID-19 pandemic led many to decide not to work as much, which he says has hampered productivity. He sees this as part of a wider problem where workers feel the employer is “extremely lucky to have them as opposed to the other way around,” a dynamic he is urging to be changed through a sharp increase in unemployment rates to control what he views as arrogance in the labor market.

Gurner is just another plutocrat who believes having more capital than most makes him omnipotent. Workers play an essential in sustaining businesses and the economy. Employers need employees more than vice versa. This underscores workers’ need to recognize their value and importance in the capitalist structure. It is a flawed perspective to see employment as a favor granted to workers by employers. The idea of increasing unemployment as a method to control worker arrogance is morally and ethically wrong.

Gurner’s statement correlates with a broader trend among governments globally. The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates not due to necessity but to meet the demands of the wealthy, aiming to increase unemployment and thereby give more leverage to employers in the labor market. At a recent hearing, Senator Elizabeth Warren called Federal Reserve’s Powell out because he was intent on raising unemployment, equating to two million more unemployed people. This fuels wealth and income disparity and is in service of a plutocratic agenda that devalues workers and their contributions.

We must awaken to the reality presented by Gurner’s comments and understand the depth of the capitalist exploitation that is at play. There must be a shift in perspective to acknowledge the intelligence and contributions of the workers in driving the economy and creating products, asserting that there are far more workers than there are rich people. We must assert our worth.

---

We work extremely hard to research and seed the internet with truthful, fact-based information to counter the misinformation from the Right and others who would have us vote against our interests. Corporations and billionaires ensure the Right-Wing & MAGA are well funded. We have you, our grassroots. Please support us today.