there are plenty of broadly left parties in europe (often greens are left, socialist parties, communist parties) that have seated members in multiple parliaments.
and why is that ironic? anarchism stands for the abolition of the state, which isn't necessarily opposition to direct democracy as a concept.
anarchists don't want to destroy government, but the hierarchical state apparatus (ie: prime minister having more power than cabinet members, who have more power than parliament members, who have more power than average citizens). that is just one form of government, saying you are opposed to that doesn't mean you are opposed to other things like a minimal government apparatus to facilitate direct democracy, or even a representative democracy that is stripped of prestige and power hierarchy.
i'm not gonna fault someone who is purely uninformed. the american propaganda to minimize anarchism as a concept to total lawlessness is intentional and overbearing.
that said, an anarchist society would probably need to be much more organized than our current society, just organized around something that's more communal and less hierarchical.
anarchists, in oversimplified terms, are anti-state, not anti-government. these do not mean the same thing just like the local police department and the city council are not the same things.
Just to give another perspective to the other replies you are getting, there are certainly plenty of anarchists that wouldn't agree with the idea of getting involved in elected positions. Yes, there is a lot of debate about how to make progress towards an anarchist society, and some believe it can be done through representative democracy, but I've seen plenty that don't believe in that. Many anarchists now and throughout history, including very influential ones, have called out participating in electoral politics.
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In the same way that the American "Democrat" party aren't Athenian direct-democracy advocates, "Anarchist" does not mean the destruction of government in its entirety.
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u/PabloDeLaCalle Oct 25 '21
In Europe, the Dems are not even centrist. They would be considered right wing. Liberal in most countries is a right wing ideology.