The time of Polish complexes, which may have been behind most our prejudices, is over, as is the time of looking down on our neighbours. I like the feeling when I show my friends from Germany, the Czech Republic or Sweden around the centre of Warsaw or Krakow. They are always respectful and surprised. There is no need to say anything. We must act. Together. Exchange what we have best in our countries. I am very happy that today the best neighbours of my parents in the countryside are Ukrainians. They are wonderful people. Nothing divides us. It is 2019. Now we can finally look them all straight in the eye and greet them affectionately. Naturally, there is plenty of room for discussion about assimilation methods. In Sweden, with some surprise, a new kind of apartheid has just been discovered. Locked up in their no-go neighbourhoods, migrants from Africa too easily turn into criminals. An error has been made – ghettos must not be created. Inter-neighbourhood migration has better outcomes – small differences between neighbours make it easier for both sides to adapt to each other. Everything works better when migrants disperse in a new country, mix in with the local crowd. Even though I readily use the term ‘archaic’ to describe the nation-state model, it does not mean that I consider it to be a complete relic of a bygone age – states can be of use to us for a long time to come. What is archaic are the borders and the stereotypes associated with them. Certainly, there are also positives: without borders, we would not have been able to develop as nations by creating independent, different cultures. Consequently, thanks to them, we are so beautifully different. We are actually dealing with two models that coexist in time and space. The society of the future has already emerged, without waiting for someone to invent it. It is comprised of people who live in the largest metropolises. They create a model archipelago of urban civilisations as an alternative to nation-states. The metropolitan society is already multicultural, colourful and self-governing. Metropolises are linked by a dense network of cross-border connections enabling business and leisure travel. Half of my Polish friends today live in cities such as Berlin, Stockholm, and Vancouver. And half of my neighbours in Krakow are visitors from abroad – Frenchmen, Italians, and Spaniards.
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