ALL FLORIDA, Fla. - March 6, 2020 - A new novel by attorney-turned-author B Shawn Clark foresees economic hard times ahead this decade in what he describes as an updated version of the "Roaring Twenties" that is decidedly more tumultuous than its namesake a 100 years ago.
In his recently released book, 20/20, Clark depicts the world in which we live now from the perspective of a man living in the future, who describes his life growing up in a Miami bayside community through journal entries he makes that tell the story of the Steinbeck-like travails he endures while contending with economic hardship, and increasingly violent storms bearing down on him and his family.
It may seem risky to make the bold prediction of hard times in the 2020s given the roaring start to the decade, which has begun with historic heights in the stock market, a seemingly robust economy, and record lows in unemployment. But Clark doesn't see things that way. In a You Tube video post he postulates that the conditions that the characters in 20/20 live through are a description of the way things are, not a prediction of the way things might be in the future.
"There is a reason that leaders such as Bernie Sanders have such an ardent following," says Clark. "Times look great for those select few at the top of the economic food chain. For the rest of us times are not so good. Sure, we have jobs, some people have two or three of them. But wages are stagnant. Most working people struggle to get by, living paycheck to paycheck."
Reading (while in character) from his book, Clark compares 20/20 to George Orwell's 1984. He says Orwell, who published his book in 1948, transposed the last two digits. Orwell, Clark says, disguised what were really his views of what was happening in 1948 by creating a setting for his novel that takes place in the future. Orwell was being "descriptive more so than predictive" Clark claims.
At this juncture in history, the world stands at the precipice of a possible recession, if not worse, triggered by a global pandemic. Climate change is no longer a possibility but a reality, as the world confronts more frequent (and more frequently violent) storms, wildfires, and swarms of locusts descending on Africa.
20/20 provides a preview of what is to come next. The book does not paint a comforting picture of what the world looks like now, in the immediate future, and in the distant future. But it is comforting to know what to expect, and that there are ways in which communities can take action to prepare for it.
20/20, by B Shawn Clark is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble in the hardcover version as well as in Kindle and Nook, and also (online) at most independent bookstores, or can be purchased direct from the publisher HERE.
Website: www.2020-TheBook.com
Publisher: First Run Books
Phone: (941) 270-3900
Email: Editors@1stRunBooks.com
You Tube: Episode 8
Episode T-Minus 10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFXZYU9hm4E&list=PL7A5q33ZyLwHN0McRtG6ihIL0uJBI5iYp&index=3&t=29s) (and counting)
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BRET CLARK
