Last week in Stockholm, Sweden, a 39-year-old father was shot in front of his 12-year-old son after confronting a group of youths they passed on their way to a local swimming pool. This is one of many shootings that has occurred in Sweden in the last few years. While Sweden’s gun violence is far below that of the U.S., comparing Sweden to its EU peers, the country is by far at the top when looking at deaths from assault by firearm per million inhabitants. In just a decade, Sweden has gone from the lowest levels of shootings in Europe to one of the highest. While this is happening, politicians in Sweden continue to disagree on what actions need to be taken. Not only do they disagree on what policies need to be made, but the discussion has been weighed down by people not wanting to have conversations with people who disagree with them politically. In my opinion, this polarization needs to be handled in order to stop the chaos. The absence of a proper conversation is fueling extremes that are shaking the country.

In the beginning of the 1990s, the Swedish Democratic party was a lone voice on the sideline. The party has its roots in the far right and has mainly focused on criticizing immigration. Multiple Swedes labeled the party as racist for both its profound criticism of immigrants and the history of the party. This criticism lies in the fact that one of the party’s creators in the 1990s, Andreas Karlstrom, had been involved in another Neo-Nazi party in Sweden. Years later, in the 2010s, the party started gaining popularity for being one of the only parties criticizing the mass immigration to Sweden in 2015. Now, roughly 30 years later and with many changes to the party, the Swedish Democrats are one of the largest parties in Sweden.

Even though the Swedish Democrats constituency is over one-fifth of the population, politicians in the parliament have long been avoiding talks with the party until recently. This increase illuminates the strong anger people have over the “old” parties in Sweden. The strong growth of the Swedish Democrats has led a lot more parties adopting the dangerous expressions used by the Swedish Democrats. This language has condemned the influx of immigrants in 2015. I believe that the debate has become too focused on immigration and led to the debate neglecting what needs to be done.

The idea that people are tired of the “old” politicians and parties is something seen in the U.S. as well. While it is important to ban someone who is conducting something illegal, it is foolish to try to ban an idea amongst people, since that idea will only become larger and larger, as it has in Sweden. The attempt to block people with whom you disagree will only result in the problem not being solved.

The current school system in Sweden is a vital puzzle piece to the gang violence shaking the country. Even though almost all schools in Sweden are free for its students, some private schools take a profit of the money they receive from the government to give to its shareholders. This leads to the paradox of private schools being worse than public schools, contrary to the U.S. private schools which do not use all the money they get from the government. The idea to take profit out of school children is something the current government is completely neglecting, instead focusing on other policies.

Gang violence’s surge in Sweden shows how important it is to have an open dialogue between people in a society. When we start to build walls and stop talking with each other, other forces take place. Therefore, it is important that we remember the importance of an open dialogue to solve the world’s problems.