Legendary game developer John Carmack has defended his decision to attend a science fiction and fantasy convention for “non-leftist” writers, following social media criticism.
Carmack announced he would attend BasedCon this week via Twitter, prompting displeasure from followers upset at the event’s description as an alternative to the “publishing industry’s hostility to authors who are critical of progressive dogma”.
The event’s name stems from the internet slang “based”, which BasedCon’s own About page describes as “the opposite of social justice activism” and identified by “based beliefs” such as “discriminating against white people is racism”, “men cannot give birth”, and also “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”.
