It all makes sense now.
Remember that weird pandemic? Then the war in Europe? Then the inflation, the housing crisis, the rent hikes, the 4-minute Tesco lunches that cost a fiver? Ever wonder why everything seems to be getting more expensive, more stressful, and somehow… more your fault?
Well, good news. Australian luxury property baron and motivational abattoir operator Tim Gurner has cleared things up. According to Gurner, the problem isn’t rising inequality, corporate price gouging, or decades of wage stagnation. No – it’s you. You got too “comfortable.” You stopped wanting to “work so much anymore.” You forgot that your entire purpose is to make rich men richer.
To correct this moral failing, Gurner suggests a modest solution: a 40–50% rise in unemployment. In other words, throw millions into poverty to “remind people that they work for the employer.” You know, good old-fashioned 19th-century management theory with better hair and worse empathy.
This Isn’t a Gaffe. It’s a Blueprint.
People were rightly horrified. But here’s the real kicker: Gurner isn’t some rogue Bond villain improvising on stage. He’s just repeating, almost verbatim, a theory published in 1943 by Polish economist Michał Kalecki.
Kalecki argued that full employment is incompatible with capitalism, not because it’s unfeasible, but because it undermines employer power. No unemployment? Then workers might – brace yourself – start asking for better conditions. Or worse: respect.
“The sack would cease to play its role as a disciplinary measure… the social position of the boss would be undermined… discipline in the factories and political stability are more appreciated than profits.”
– Michał Kalecki, Political Aspects of Full Employment, 1943.
Fast forward 80 years and it’s clear: they read Kalecki not as a warning – but as a playbook.
The Threat of Poverty Is Policy
Wage stagnation in the UK and US isn’t a bug. It’s a feature. Since the 1970s, worker productivity has skyrocketed, but pay hasn’t followed.
And don’t let anyone tell you “work doesn’t pay” because workers are too picky. Often, it literally doesn’t pay. After childcare, transport, uniform, and losing benefits, many low-wage workers take home less than £1/hour.3
So why do people stop working? Maybe it’s because capitalism has stopped offering even the illusion of progress. The rat race is less “work hard, get ahead” and more “work hard, stay poor, die tired.” At a certain point, people opt out. Or they forage. Capitalism is Breaking and Billionaires are working hard to clutch at the remnants before everything goes to shit and the hide in their hi-tech bunkers.
Post-Pandemic: We’ve Seen Behind the Curtain
COVID made everyone pause. And during that pause, something dangerous happened: people reflected. They saw how much time was stolen from them. How pointless the grind was. How quickly the bosses got bailed out while they got furloughed, fired, or fed motivational posters on Slack.
They realised time isn’t money. It’s life. And once you’ve seen that, going back to a zero-hours contract for £9.50 an hour doesn’t hit the same.
But the System Fights Back
Rather than learn anything, the ruling class doubled down. Central banks across the West – including the Bank of England – raised interest rates to intentionally increase unemployment and suppress wage growth.4
It’s called “demand destruction.” But what it really destroys is your ability to feed your kids.
We’ve also seen record rent hikes, fewer rights, and a renewed cultural war on the “undeserving poor” – conveniently distracting from tax havens and executive bonuses.
As Kalecki and Marx both pointed out, capitalism needs a surplus population – a shadow class – to scare the rest of us into obedience.
And guess what? It works. Over half of UK renters are now one missed paycheck away from homelessness.5
That’s not bad policy. That’s perfect discipline.
The Cake is a Lie
Rich men like Gurner sell the stick because the carrot failed. Wages stopped rising. Promotions vanished. Pensions disappeared. Even a house is now a fantasy unless your granddad is a millionaire. (Which, in Gurner’s case, he was. Nepo-property-tycoon alert.)
It’s not that people don’t want to work. It’s that the system doesn’t reward work.
- Daniel Pink’s studies show motivation comes from autonomy, mastery, and purpose — not fear.6
- UK four-day workweek trials showed no loss in productivity — and often improvement.7
- Companies like Gravity Payments doubled salaries and saw loyalty and output spike.8
Turns out you don’t need to terrify people into working harder. You just need to stop treating them like trash.
The Endgame: Despair and Fascism
All of this – from inflation to housing collapse to far-right populism – fits a disturbing trend: manufactured crisis as a management tool. When hope dries up, and when liberal democracy offers only austerity and lectures, guess what happens?
People don’t just give up. They lash out. They turn to the strongman. The billionaire class knows this. They’re gambling that they can drive workers to the brink – and into the arms of authoritarianism – before the left offers a better alternative.
Trumpism. Brexit. Le Pen. Farage. Musk. It’s all the same story. Chaos is the tool. You are the product.
So What Now?
Tim Gurner told the truth. And that truth should piss you off.
This system isn’t failing. It’s functioning exactly as intended. To squeeze more labour from fewer people, for more profit, with more fear. Until the very idea of rest, joy, or dignity seems like a joke.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. And when enough of us realise that the pain isn’t a bug — it’s a feature — maybe we’ll finally debug the system.
Sources
- Economic Policy Institute. “The Productivity–Pay Gap.” Link
- Resolution Foundation. “The Living Standards Outlook 2023.” Link
- Institute for Fiscal Studies. “Does Work Pay?” Link
- Bank of England. Monetary Policy Summary. Link
- Shelter UK. “1 in 3 renters one paycheque from homelessness.” Link
- Pink, Daniel H. *Drive*. Riverhead Books, 2009.
- 4 Day Week Campaign. UK Pilot Results. Link
- Inc. “Does More Pay Mean More Growth?” Link