Humans are self-deceiving animals. We can rationalize anything we want and believe anything, and these believes can even lead to genocides. Something is true because we always believed it, because we want to believe it, or because people around us believe it. This leads to errors in our thinking, biases, unground fears, and misinterpretation, just to name a few. To defend ourselves for these kind of errors, there is a weapon called critical thinking. In this article, I will describe critical thinking and how you can develop it.

Lockdowns for disease mitigation have never been used in the modern Western World. And yet, here we are. How is it possible that a strategy, which the WHO has systematically ruled out, is now used in almost all countries?

If the narrative is a lie, it doesn´t matter that what is shown in the mainstream media is also fiction.

When the news bulletin on television starts to use Hollywood film footage, you know you are being lied to big time! And this is exactly what happened in the Netherlands after the release of the IPCC report. A dramatic clip was shown with footage of forest fires, floods, and… footage from the disaster movie `The Day After Tomorrow.´ So what does this mean, and what does it tell us about the times we are in now?

In the process of growing up, you learn the rules of society. You realize that specific behavior is more rewarding than other behavior. You learn that by pretending and behaving in a certain way, people will look at you in another way. Thereby you lose authenticity. Is this a good way to go?

First, a disclaimer, this article is written with the utmost respect to the suffering of especially the Jews in World War 2. This remains one of the darkest pages in modern history, and the suffering that has been caused in this war is beyond comprehension. This suffering was not only experienced by Jews, but by gypsies, gays, mental diseased, civilians, soldiers etc. It is still hard to grasp and to realize how many people have been influenced by this. It is easy to say that this only happened because there were evil people. However, we have to face the truth, the second World War was caused by ordinary people making ordinary choices, but which led step by step to this horrific period. It is about the road that led us there. I use this example not because I think we are already there but because I want to prevent that we end up in a similar situation. This never again.

In the late 60´s Calhoun performed an experiment in which four pairs of mice were kept in a nine-square-foot enclosure. The mice lived in a plague-free environment, with an abundance of comforts, a lack of predation, and an unlimited supply of consumables. This population grew to 2200, they created social order, but they also ceased to mate. Within two years, the entire society went extinct. He performed this research to test his hypothesis: overpopulation spawns a breakdown in social functions, and that, in turn, inevitably leads to extinction.

This quote caught my attention, and I would like to share my thoughts about this with you. If we look at the 20th century, it is easy to see the similarities and how this echoes in our generations.

Victim playing (or playing the victim, victim card, or self-victimization) is the fabrication or exaggeration of victimhood for various reasons. In this article, I want to discuss playing the victim to manipulate others and to diffuse responsibility. And how playing the victim will make you a victim.

In part II, I discussed that a UBI would increase the government’s power over us, the people. One aspect which has not been discussed yet is when we combine the UBI with digital currencies. Digital currencies are the digital version of the dollar, euro, yen, or whatever national valuta. The phrase `central bank digital currency´ has been used to refer to various proposals involving digital currency issued by a central bank.

A welfare state by any other name is still a welfare state. And the UBI is just replacing one pricey system for another. And unlike the current welfare state, which has standards for determining who qualifies for specific aid, a UBI would be given to everyone. This would dramatically increase the pool of citizens receiving benefits from the government and inflict massive expenses across the board. It will increase the government´s power.

Whoever thinks that a Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a good idea, please think twice. Who pays you has power over you. If the government pays you, the government has power over you. It would be very naïve to think your government is going to give you money without compensation. Maybe you trust your government now, and your government is reliable, but who knows what government you will have in four years?

Pathocracy is a government run by psychopaths. Victims of these psychopaths are easy to recognize nowadays; they wear a mouth mask, which quite literally shuts up their mouth. People in the West often think that the government is acting in the interest of their citizens, but currently, that is definitely not the case.

Brainwashing, isn´t that old skool tactics used a long time ago? Well, maybe not… `May you live in interesting times` is a Chinese curse. To be exact, `Better to be a dog in times of tranquility than a human in times of chaos.´ (寧為太平犬，不做亂世人). I guess not many would disagree that we are living in very interesting times now. How do you keep your sanity and balance of mind if everything around you is trying to push you out of balance? One of the things you can do is to try to see through things and recognize patterns and tricks used on you. In this story, I will talk about brainwashing. I hope it will make you curious and you will learn something from it.

It is absurd and ethically not maintainable to keep someone responsible for something that was not a violation of the law at a specific moment but changed later. Or that someone can be held accountable for something he did not do, but some of his ancestors. But this is exactly what is happening at this moment in our society. White people are held responsible for the slavery of black people generations ago. I will explain why this is not tenable.

Every lie is a sin; honesty and telling the truth is always best, isn´t it? Could it be that there are times when not telling the truth is a good thing, and good things come from lying?

When you are judged because you are a member of a class (or race, gender, or whatever group) and not as an individual, everything is possible. You can be found guilty just because you are a member of that group, not taking into account the things you do, but only because you are from that class.

Nowadays, it feels like compromise is less accepted. The polarization seems more extreme, and people hold intractable positions. They think their ideas are superior, and therefore they are unwilling to listen, let alone change their position. To change their beliefs or views is a sign of weakness or a sign that you are not convinced enough.

Why do we do things, even when we know it is not right, and why do we click on headlines from which we already know (or should be able to know) that they are click-bait?

A win-win situation is a situation where none of the participants lose; all people involved benefit. This can be through compromise or cooperation and can be used in business, organization, and personal relationships. Instead of using domination and egoistic behavior, we look for cooperation, caring, and group success in win-win games.