Progressive or reactionary?

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How do we define the term “progressive”? Perhaps some of the following might give us a clue. You think health care is a basic human right, and that single-payer national health insurance is a worthwhile reform on our way toward creating a non-profit national health care service. You think that human rights ought always to trump property rights. You think political leaders who engage in "preemptive war" and invasions should be brought to trial for crimes against humanity and judged against the standards of international law established at Nuremberg after World War Two. You think that electoral reform should include instant run-off voting, publicly-financed elections, easy ballot access for all parties, and proportional representation. You think that regulating big corporations isn't enough, and that such corporations, if they are allowed to exist at all, must either serve the common good or be put into public receivership. You think that the legal doctrine granting corporations the same constitutional rights as natural persons is absurd and must be overturned. You think it's wrong to allow individuals to accumulate wealth without limits, and that the highest incomes should be capped well before they begin to threaten community and democracy. You think it's crazy to use the Old Testament as a policy guide for the 21st century. You think that anyone who desires the reins of power that come with high political office should, by reason of that desire, be seen as unfit for the job. You recognize that an economic system which requires continuous expansion, destroys the environment, relies on rapidly-depleting fossil fuels, exacerbates inequality, and leads to war after war is unsustainable and must be replaced. Score a bonus point if you understand that sticking to the existing system is what's unrealistic. You think that, ideally, no one would have more wealth than they need until everyone has at least as much as they need to live a safe, happy, decent life. This is just a sampling of attitudes that are generally seen as progressive. How do you define “reactionary”? The popular depiction for the word Reactionary gives the definition - an extreme conservative; an opponent of progress or liberalism. “Reactionary is a political epithet typically applied to extreme ideological conservatism, especially that which wishes to return to a real or imagined old order of things, and which is willing to use coercive means to do so. The term is primarily used as a term of opprobrium (groups rarely identify themselves as reactionary), meant to assert the idea that the opposition is based in merely reflexive politics rather than responsive and informed views. More specifically, the term "reactionary" is frequently used to refer to those who want to reverse (or prevent) some form of claimed "progressive" change. Both definitions are used by the two sides of the political spectrum to denigrate their opponents. And boy oh boy, don’t we see it here a lot. It seems to me that there is a world-wide reactionary movement of the very worst kind which is making great inroads into progressive advances, and I wonder how long it will be before we begin to see murder and mayhem turning up as tools in the debate. Perhaps it's time to choose your side. Lash