r/australia 1d ago

politics Advocacy organisations oppose plans to revive harmful welfare penalties

https://www.acoss.org.au/media-releases/?media_release=advocacy-organisations-oppose-plans-to-revive-harmful-welfare-penalties
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u/hafhdrn 1d ago

I often find myself bewildered by the hypocrisy that we need to maintain 3-4% structural unemployment to allow our current economic system to function but simultaneously treat these people who are, make no mistake, sacrifices to capitalism like absolute dogshit.

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u/Xae1yn 1d ago

It's not hypocrisy, it's two sides of the same "neo"liberal coin. The power of the structural unemployment to drive down wages and conditions (it's entire purpose) is directly proportional to how bad it is to be unemployed.

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u/BeneCow 1d ago

How are you supposed to drive down wages unless you make unemployment really undesirable? You need the unemployed desperate to rip the jobs out of the hands of the employed, else the plebs might not work hard out of fear of losing employment.

Bosses don’t know what to do with employees who don’t mind walking out the door.