Vindication

It seems like a long, long time ago that Worldcon banned Jon del Arroz for "racist and bullying behavior," an intentionally vague catch-all term for everything outside the Death Cult's influence. Despite living in a cynical age, many people are credulous when it comes to this kind of thing. All it takes is an accusation and the court of public opinion will skip the trial and go straight to the sentencing. Cultural incentives favor consent by silence. To object has the feel of declaring war, for control based on falsehood faces an existential threat from the truth.

The very public and humiliating announcement was no straightforward case of disassociation. (People are free to choose who they want to be around. That's a fundamental human right.) It was a de facto fatwa placed on Jon's livelihood. Nowadays you don't have to behead someone to be rid of them. You just have to coordinate a consensus among the commissars that any who choose to transact with a "racist and bullying" person is guilty by association. Effectively starving that person to death.

It goes without saying the charges were without merit. Rather than sit down and mutter to himself in the shadows to which he'd been banished, Jon fought back and defended his good name. It took over 3 years of wrangling in the California court system, but he finally got a retraction and an apology.

Worldcon also ponied up $4,000 in damages, a paltry sum compared to the lost book sales that come from wrecking an up-and-coming writer's career.

We call this vindication. If I were Gina Carano, I'd have my lawyers draft suit against Lucasfilm immediately. Their charge against her, "social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities," is similarly bogus.

The Wild West has the reputation, among modernity's supposed moral betters, of being violent and uncivilized. What will future generations say about the slanderous social media culture of 2021? At least in the Wild West men had recourse via fists or guns when others defamed their character. This encouraged grudging respect among rivals. Nowadays there are hardly any consequences. Slander and libel are notoriously difficult to prove in American civil courts. Not coincidentally, they are the Death Cult's go-to weapons in crushing their enemies.

Thanks to Jon, maybe they'll think twice before pulling that trigger.

As always, let me know what you think in the comments. If you like science fiction, check out my books Seeds of Calamity and Tendrils to the Moon. You can find extended previews for each here and here.

UPDATE: Jon takes a well-deserved victory lap: