When is a red line more of a grey area?

[FireIceTalon]

^^Partially true, but it is not limited to those whose ideas appear to be socialist but really aren't, it also refers to those who have blatantly conservative or right-wing views such as fascists. From a Marxist perspective, social democrats are reactionary because they still want to keep capitalism intact, even if they want to make it more "fair". As are "utopian" socialists (those think socialism can be achieved by non-revolutionary means - which of course it cannot). Certain tendencies WITHIN Marxism are even viewed as reactionary if they ultimately are revisionist and betray too many of the core tenants of orthodox/classical Marxism. I don't subscribe to any particular tendency of Marxism, since I dislike sectarianism in general and view it as a major barrier for the revolutionary left. I guess I'm sort of a cross between an orthodox Marxist and what many conservatives today would refer to as a 'cultural Marxist' and/or Critical Theorist. In any case, both Stalinism and Maoism are very reactionary to me, especially the latter, which is little better than caricature of Marxism, and resembles a form of 'Radical chinese nationalism' more than it does Marxism. And Stalinism is little more than 'state-capitalism' wrapped in a red flag. Thankfully Stalinists and Maoists make up only a very tiny minority of Marxists.

But there are different degrees of being reactionary admittedly. A person who wants a feudalist organization of society would not only be a reactionary by Marxist standards, but by bourgeois liberalism standards as well.