I have lately become particularly annoyed with politicians who manipulate language. In the U.S., politicians on the conservative right now constantly refer to the poor as “takers” and the rich as “job creators.” Since enabling “takers” is perceived as bad, the conservative right uses that label to justify cutting social programs to the disadvantaged, and since everyone knows the country needs more jobs, the conservatives propose providing tax breaks and monetary incentives to support the “job creators.” The rich get richer, etc. Conservatives in Canada and particularly in B.C. manipulate language as well; for example, they constantly refer to the glories of free enterprise. They no longer refer to our economic system as capitalism. That term began to go out of favour with the Great Depression after fortunes, farms and homes were lost and forlorn investors started jumping out of high windows. Today, no politician wants to be seen as a capitalist; “free enterpriser” sounds so much better. It has the word “free” in it after all, and don’t we all believe in freedom and want to be free? The exponents of free enterprise also love the terms free market and free trade because, well, they have the word free in them and that makes those things desirable. Adam Smith, the 18th century philosopher whose seminal work The Wealth of Nations first described how capitalism works, foresaw the abuses that might occur if those who owned the businesses (whom he refers to as the masters) were too “free” to control things. “Masters,” Smith writes, “sometimes enter into particular combinations to sink the wages of labour...” These practices, he continues, “are always conducted with the utmost silence and secrecy.... In contrast, when workers combine (to raise wages), the masters never cease to call aloud for the assistance of the civil magistrate, and the rigorous execution of those laws which have been enacted with so much severity against the combination (collective efforts) of servants, labourers, and journeymen." Sound familiar?The 18th century “combination” of business and political interests that sought to “sink” the wages of workers is alive and well in B.C. today. Its linchpin is the convenient, legislated labelling of a wide variety of work as being “essential services,” a wonderful manipulation of language. The term was first used to prevent the job actions of police and firefighters, describing their work as essential to social order and safety. It was expanded to end the job actions of nurses who were deemed "essential” to the health and well-being of citizens. Then it was applied to teachers in a real stretch of meaning. No longer were lives at stake, but instead, it was deemed “essential” that students not be deprived of a single day of learning. Apparently, the 12 weeks of holidays the Ministry of Education grants them were not essential to learning, but any additional time off was. And finally, we see it applied to truck drivers at the Port of Vancouver, whose work is “essential” to provincial business interests. In order to work in a manner satisfactory to all, capitalism requires a balance of power between “masters” and “workers.” Politicians should not try to skew the balance or attempt to hide their bias through language manipulation.