The assertion of my title today has been on my mind for a long while. It deserves fleshing out.

The reactionary tends to be the one defending his position of power and privilege. The following Brave Leo result was posed using only the traditional Left and Right as a basic dichotomy. It’s only a starting point because there are personages ostensibly identified with the Right who, once clandestinely, are now openly in league with the most radical Left. Pick one or more disappointed with two recent failures of a deadly nature.

Currently which more reactionary, L or R?

Which is More Reactionary, L or R?

Based on the provided search results, it appears that both “Left” (L) and “Right” ® have factions that exhibit reactionary tendencies. However, the term “regressive left” specifically refers to a subset of left-wing politics that is accused of being accepting of or sympathetic to views that conflict with liberal principles, such as tolerating Islamism and promoting censorship.

In contrast, the term “reactionary” is often associated with right-wing politics, particularly conservatism, which tends to favor established ideas, conditions, or institutions and may resist progressive change.

From the search results, it can be inferred that:

The “regressive left” is characterized as being reactionary in its acceptance of authoritarian positions, such as Islamism, and its tolerance of censorship.
The Right, particularly conservatism, is often associated with reactionary tendencies, such as resisting progressive change and favoring established ideas and institutions.

Therefore, based on the available information, it can be concluded that both the “regressive left” and the Right (conservatism) exhibit reactionary tendencies, but in different ways. The regressive left is characterized by its acceptance of authoritarian positions, while conservatism is characterized by its resistance to progressive change and favoring of established institutions.

Here is a summary in bullet points:

Regressive Left: Characterized by acceptance of authoritarian positions (Islamism) and tolerance of censorship, exhibiting reactionary tendencies.
Right (Conservatism): Associated with reactionary tendencies, such as resisting progressive change and favoring established ideas and institutions.

Note that these characterizations are based on the provided search results and may not be exhaustive or definitive representations of all factions within the Left and Right.

I was delightfully surprised at how relatively balanced was this result. Even more impressive was the following suggested follow up questions.

I will leave it to the reader to explore these further. They are not all that interesting for me at the moment. However, this AI totally fails to take into account how, what might be called, “traditional institutions” are seen by the Right as corrupted. That is once an institution is in the state designated by Robert Conquest’s 3rd Law: “The simplest way to explain the behavior of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies,” no true conservative will defend it.

Here is the key point I wish to make in support of my titled assertion.

Normally, reactionaries are associated not with Left and Right per se, but with those is the power seat seeking to keep it.

Typically it was the Progressives of the 19th Century who labeled Establishment powers as reactionary in anticipation of resistance to what they viewed as “progress.” They were out of power. Now they are in.

So, those currently in powerful positions, having too thoroughly gamed the system — with recruits, treats, threats, coercion, extortion, blackmail, and murder — are supremely fearful of losing power because of how ruthless they themselves have become. Being fearfully defensive and not knowing from where the greatest threat will emerge — colleague or foe or random morons — puts them on the back foot. They are the reactionaries today.

The offensive lay with those who traditionally not merely love freedom, but are supremely grateful for all good things that came out of freedoms unleashed three centuries back.

They deeply feel an obligation to posterity.

A few will have the courage and faith to follow up, and many young men will follow because they too want to live freer than what the reactionaries intend for them. Almost certainly the best leaders will, humbly, have faith in God and not man.