Since the pandemic started I have seen family members and friends on and off social media latching onto conspiracy theories in a never-ending cycle. What I found funny at first, like believing there is a magnetic chip in the anti-covid vaccine because your government is trying to control you or that this whole thing is a plot from Bill Gates, is no longer laughable.

Conspiracies and fake news. Even in war. Because there are two sides to the story: a Russian one and a Ukrainian one. Russia is clearly saving Ukraine from nazis and Ukraine is attacking and killing Russian ethnic groups – which means that this invasion is not an invasion but a heroic attempt from Russia to save its neighbour. Yeah right.

When did facts no longer matter? Did Russia invade Ukraine? Yes. Was this legitimate? No. Are there nazis in Ukraine? I’m sure there are nazi sympathisers everywhere including in Ukraine. Does this make them all nazis? No. But what about the US, they say, they’re not any better. Please spare me the “whataboutism”. Because if we go down that road, it’s pointless to even have a discussion. The USA f****d up in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Vietnam, in Libya. Basically in every country they interfered. Was the US right to support dictatorships in Iran and Latin America? Hell no. If I condemn Russia for invading Ukraine, am I siding with the American foreign policy? Hell no. Are most Russian media spreading the regime’s propaganda and misinforming the local population? Yes they are. So you’re saying that the western media has always been non-biased? No, not at all. I never said that. Does the West have more independent media that will go at length to share facts with their readers & viewers? Yes. I come from the least democratic region in the world, where media is politicised, not reliable and totally controlled. Those few journalists who try to write it as it is end up dead or fired or just leave the country. So you can understand why I appreciate reliable media.

But (there’s always another but) look at how Europe is embracing Ukrainians fleeing their country. Why were Syrians, Africans, Afghans and other non-white refugees treated differently? I am not a policymaker so I will not answer this question but I surely don’t like Europe’s double standards. I find it sad and disgusting. So the west is not perfect, I told you. No it’s far from perfect. But there’s a reason you came here because this is where you can have a better life, or was it maybe that you didn’t have a choice?! You’re at least in a part of the world where you won’t be sent to jail for 15 years for saying I don’t like my president. Or I’m gay. Democracy is real. It is not perfect, but it is the best system we’ve had so far. It is where you get to choose which newspaper to read, which TV to watch and you make your own conclusions. Journalists are not meant to tell you what to think. They don’t make policies. You do, when you choose who to vote for. Journalists are messengers who go to Ukraine and Russia and other countries to see what is happening up close. As a friend (hi Roel!) puts it nicely: if you don’t like the way they report on Ukraine, why don’t you move your ass and go there to check for yourself with your big mouth?

For those of us lucky to be living in a civilised country, who come from countries where human life has no value, we should not forget why we left. Don’t resent the country you’re living in but the country you came from. It basically kicked you out. You were never welcome there.

For those of us living in Europe, yes, Europe is not perfect. There is racism, fascism, discrimination, inequality, poverty. But take a moment and look where Europe came from. A couple of generations ago, France and Germany were at war. Look at the rest of the world, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America. Autocrats, militias, corruption (lots of it), dysfunctional societies, oppression, women’s rights? Non existent. You might say colonialism contributed to that. You might say the west is purposefully keeping the rest of the world on its knees. You might say the west has lost its moral compass and values. We at least have family values (which is bullshit by the way). I won’t keep going because there is no point. I do agree we have to understand the past to build the present and the future.

Seeing these posts on Twitter and Facebook trying to analyse how we got to the war in Ukraine will not help solve the current situation. This is, as we say in NGO jargon, a lesson learned. And for those who do have access to decent media because they live in free countries, what’s your excuse not to read The New York Times, Le Monde, La Libération, De Volkskrant, Der Spiegel and others? Because you have a responsibility to stick to facts. You are more to be blamed for spreading misinformation. You have the opportunity, the means and the access to the truth and yet you make a conscious decision to promote conspiracies. That’s either stupid, sick or both. In all cases, there’s something wrong with you. And please don’t start arguing why you are not vaccinated. Oh wait, this is probably a different group. Oh man, the end must be near.