The reactionary opposes progress, innovation, and progress on all political, social, and economic levels. He likes to live the current reality, but even more in a past ideal, in which the values were even before those living in his context.
That is to say; the reactionary is the person who opposes the political, economic, and social progress that is experienced in a certain society. For this reason, he views with suspicion any leftist or revolutionary political force because he considers them enemies of the values and principles that he defends.
The reactionary is associated with other profiles, such as the
conservative, but they have some differences. It is also associated with
ideologies such As liberalism, fascism, conservatism, or any current identified
with the right, but this is far from correct.
Characteristics of the reactionary
The reactionary, as a person who opposes progress in many fields
and areas, has a series of characteristics:
Origin of the Term
We have to look for the term's origin in the great Revolution
contemporary, the French Revolution, which began in 1789. This event is one of
the most relevant in the history of mankind; social and political paradigms
were redefined, ending absolutism and laying the foundations for later regimes.
The Revolution was an extremely bloody event, killing tens of
thousands of people. A large part of these victims were people who opposed the
Revolution or some of its actions or drifts. These individuals were accused of
being reactionaries, which comes from reacting to something, in this case, the revolutionary
events.
To such an extent, the accusations and the course of the
Revolution derive that all kinds of people were accused of being reactionaries,
even those who had supported the Revolution or suggested that it take another
path.
Differences Between Reactionary and
Conservative
These two terms are very similar. They are popularly used as
synonyms, but we will see that this is not entirely the case.
A conservative is a person who identifies with the current
values and moral principles, those that prevail in a given society at
the time in which they find themselves. This is the motivation for some civil
wars and the hit of Statekeeping the status quo in the face of the threat of a
profound paradigm shift.
On the other hand, although the reactionary may share this
vision, he goes further. According to political scientist Mark Lilla, the
reactionary yearns for an even more conservative past. Just as the
revolutionary imagines and draws an ideal future situation, the reactionary
does so with the past.
It should also be noted that it exists by the opposition. That is, faced with the threat of a change by the revolutionaries, the reactionary arises and fights so that this does not occur.
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