Carl Hiaasen on Human Weirdness
The satirist talks about the "curve of human weirdness" and the need for public outrage in the political arena
- By T. A. Frail
- Smithsonian magazine, August 2010, Subscribe
The human race "has not been elevated" over the past 40 years, Carl Hiaasen says. © Brian Smith
As a Miami Herald columnist and the author of a dozen satirical novels, including the forthcoming Star Island, Carl Hiaasen has compiled a body of work populated by venal real estate developers, crooked politicians, environmental zealots, dead tourists, ambitious strippers and numbskull lowlifes. He says that as nonfiction has gotten stranger than fiction, it’s become harder for a satirist to stay ahead of “the curve of human weirdness. America is becoming more like South Florida every day, which is terrifying.” Hiaasen, 57, divides his time between Vero Beach and the Florida Keys. He spoke with senior editor T. A. Frail by phone.
Isn’t it possible we could just get off the weirdness curve and return to a more civilized state?
No, it’s not. When I go out and give speeches, the title of my speech is “The Case Against Intelligent Design.” And I base it strictly on what I’ve observed here in Florida, which is that the human race is actually de-evolving, that we are moving backward on the evolutionary scale. If you picked the headlines from the five largest newspapers in Florida every day, you could make a very solid case that the human race was slipping backward into the primal ooze. The species has not been elevated by much of what’s happened in the last 30 or 40 years. And obviously, it’s not just in Florida. The sort of thing that used to happen only in fiction can hardly compare to what’s in the news today. The reality of our current politics and the economic meltdown—that’s straight out of Tom Wolfe.
What fresh outrages do you fear are going to happen in the next 40 years?
For one thing, the level of political discourse will only get nastier. The Supreme Court’s decision to let corporations pour as much money as they want directly into political advertising—and do it anonymously—is toxic to the whole democratic process. From now on, it’s basically going to be all the free speech that money can buy.
Do you see an antidote?
Public outrage is the best antidote, because it often leads to change. But people can’t get outraged without rapid access to solid, useful information—what we used to call journalism. There’s so much garbage being disguised as fact and so many gasbags posing as sages; somebody has to cut through the crap. That’s the job of reporters, and their job will be more important than at any time in history. There’s been this great lamentation about the end of newspapers as we know them, the end of the era of the paper hitting your doorstep in the morning, but I don’t think the language or the craft of writing is dying. In the next 40 years, there’s going to be a larger demand than ever for people who can communicate with the written word, whatever format it takes. I don’t think there’s ever been a greater need for people to be able to write at a functional level, whether they’re tapping on their computer keyboard or on their iPhone.
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Comments (8)
If this man really knew what he was talking about, he would know that something cannot de-evolve. Evolution is passing through different stages. So no matter what, we will always be evolving. There is no such thing as evolving in reverse or backwards. Another thing: this man can not base this huge "finding" on something that occurred in one state out of fifty, in one country out of roughly 192, and in a whole entire world. I believe more research would be needed to claim that people are "evolving in reverse". People are smarter than ever, and we are still getting smarter. If we were to be "evolving in reverse", there would be no possible way to tell simply because no one will be able to know for sure. We will all be dead by the time the slightest evolution in our species develops.
Posted by Elliott Williams on January 6,2011 | 06:09 PM
No person I know can it say like Carl Haissen! Especially after I spent so much time in Vero Beach. People kept telling me "You're from the North, you think we here (in Florida) are stupid." I always had to say I'm equal opportunity. I think everyone is dumb until you prove yourself. Doesn't happen often enough.
Thanks Carl! I love your novels!
Posted by Nancy Alexanian Bauer on November 26,2010 | 03:43 PM
Reading these replies indicates to me that "sense of humor" is slowly draining out of the human genome, at least here in the U.S. of A.
Carl Hiassen is a humorist with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. People who lack the ability to laugh at themselves are truly poor in spirit, and I almost pity them.
Posted by bill on August 23,2010 | 09:06 AM
Thanks, Carl, for pointing out a significant idea.
It is frustrating that there are so many “writers” that can’t communicate via writing. Remember when grammar was a class at school? Maybe we need to create a Grammar for Texting, and get the children away from abbreviating everything; show them how imprtnt it is to spl all the wrds, u kno? And to convey thoughts clearly, and completel…
Posted by Laura Shadle on August 17,2010 | 02:04 PM
I have read most of Mr. Hiassen's novels. They are very entertaining. And they show that he is clearly a champion of saving the planet from the human species.
As Ms. Parkman peers through her smoke and mirros, let's hope that after she figures out how to spell "corporation" she can see that they are already running the world we live in. And her conservative cronies on the SCOTUS have gone the extra mile to solidify that position.
Our best hope is that facts and logic can ultimately win out over the "gasbags posing as sages".
Bravo, Mr. Hiassen, help keep us armed with The Truth!
Posted by Rusty Williams on August 11,2010 | 12:01 PM
Awful article. The windbag is Mr. Carl Haissen. If he truly was honest he would included how the Labor Unions have been running rough shod over the states with everything to unsustainable pensions. Only pointing to Corportion campaign monies is a half truth. In California we are bracing for the hundreds of millions the Unions will spend on swayng public vote. American's are more intelligent than ever. We can see through the smoke and mirrors that Mr. Haissen's media is delivering.
Posted by Valentina Parkman on July 20,2010 | 09:30 AM
Home run! He should be the cover story.
Posted by Jack Sutton on July 7,2010 | 12:40 PM
So very true.
Saddening.
Posted by AlistairDZN on July 1,2010 | 08:00 PM