Let's be fair. To most people "reactionary" means "someone who reacts to something". There are very few people who I think are acting in bad faith thus far. I should have made this clear about myself. If I say someone is acting in bad faith I will almost always explain how and why I came to that conclusion (almost always). The exception is if the person is so clearly acting in bad faith that no explanation is required. I like to change minds and have my mind changed. If I can change the mind of the person I am interacting with great. I don't actually count on that most of the time. Instead I use them as an indirect method to demonstrate a point. If I am not sure if someone is acting in bad faith I will indicate I am not sure. This is in part because I have found that by doing so good faith actors will attempt to clarify and or correct whatever it was that makes me unsure. They will engage me to clear up my uncertainty.
Returning to the Reactionary question. For 200 years reactionary has meant the same thing. Someone opposed to enlightenment values. There has been an attempt by the right to redefine what the term reactionary means in order to re-frame themselves more favorably. As to dealing with it. Or I could just correct people until they get so tired they stop trying to redefine the term to mean something it does not and never has meant.
To clarify a reactionary does not mean "someone right of me" it means someone who opposes enlightenment values. If it meant someone right of me then liberals would be reactionaries. And as much as I dislike them they are not reactionaries. I also expect that I am going to have to correct the perception that leftists are liberals several times before people start to get it.
I am well aware of the fact that I am going to get push back but as someone who enjoys discussions, debates, arguments, and everything in between developing a common vocabulary is crucial to conveying ideas. I tend to tailor my language a great deal based on who I am talking to. This is in very large part because the idea is more important to me than the terms. If I am talking to a capitalist I talk about free markets, if I am talking to a socialist I talk about open markets. For most conversations both concepts are equal enough as to convey what I mean. I can and will suss out pretty quickly who is interested in exchanging ideas and who is just interested in being a contrarian or doesn't want their idea's challenged. In a conversation I am usually very willing to work with people on terms. But I expect the same consideration. If we are going to communicate to each other and not at each other that requires cooperation.
I am really looking forward to when I start the trans thread. Probably going to wait at least a couple of days though. I hope it's epic. Not really sure which topic I want to do next though.
@Abhorsen