Yahoo Finance Aussies blame cost-of-living crisis on greed: ‘I’m all for a protest’
There is no end in sight for the cost-of-living crisis and Aussies are sick of it.
Aussies are calling for a nationwide protest against the cost-of-living crisis, as prices continue to skyrocket with no end in sight.
TikToker Chris Anderson took to the platform to rant about absurd prices, saying it shouldn’t cost $100 for “half a bag of groceries”.
“This cost of living is a joke. I'm feeling fatigued. I'm feeling annoyed. I'm feeling insane. I'm feeling like a f****** number in the system. I've had a gutful,” Anderson said in the now-viral TikTok.
“What we need in this country is a reality check. Okay, this isn't about an individual problem, this is a collective problem.
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“They're trying to squeeze us for every last cent that we have, so they can live up in opulence and luxury, and I'm tired of it. We, as everyday Australians who pay tax, who pay an honest wage, who pay to live in this country, why are we not afforded the opportunity to be able to be prosperous like other people are in this country?”
Anderson called for a nationwide protest against rising costs, saying only then would the big corporations stand up to take notice.
“If every person who works and pays taxes walked off the job tomorrow, do you think they're going to sack an entire office of people? No, I don't think so,” he said.
“Because, without us, their companies are nothing and the pandemic proved that. We proved what our worth was during the pandemic and this is how they repay us after keeping their companies afloat.”
‘Who’s ready to protest?’
Aussies were quick to jump into the comments section to back the idea for a protest, with many agreeing the cost of living had pushed them to their limit.
“I’m all for a protest,” one user said.
“Who’s ready to jump off the train at parliament house to protest?” another responded.
Are corporate profits to blame?
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently published research showing the important role high corporate profits had played in the surge in inflation after the COVID pandemic.
Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work director Dr Jim Stanford said the OECD report highlighted that corporate profits had played a major role in the soaring cost of living.
“Companies in Australia and many other industrial countries have taken advantage of the disruptions, shortages, and desperation of the pandemic to push up profit margins far beyond normal levels,” Stanford said.
“In Australia, corporate profits reached their highest share of GDP ever in 2022, and that has been the leading cause of the current cost-of-living crisis.
“Workers are now struggling to catch up to prices and recover the loss in their real wages. However, the RBA continues to ignore the role of profits in driving prices, while doubling down on its determination to suppress wage growth.”
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