The events of 2020 may change our lives for decades to come

Including in how we travel, how we socialize, how we work and, very critically, how we go about expanding our human civilization on this planet.

The most important news of the past week was the death of United States Supreme Court Justice RBG that will undoubtedly affect the balance of power in the most powerful democracy in the world. And that will affect all of our lives. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was known as the leader of the liberal wing of the Supreme Court. Rumor has it that at some point between 2010 and 2014, when the Democrats controlled the Senate, she was asked to step down while battling her cancer for the 4th time, to give President Obama a 3rd appointment. She declined. With her passing just a few weeks before the election, President Trump now has the opportunity to nominate a 3rd conservative judge and solidify the conservative majority on the Supreme Court (to a 6-3 majority) should his nominee be confirmed by the Senate.

But why is this of so much importance to our lives? The answer lies in how the government of the United States is structured. The original writers of the American Constitution desired that power be distributed between 3 branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. As you see in the news, the executive and legislative branches often end up gridlocked. President Obama, for example, only had real power for the first 2 years of his presidency and, after losing control of the House of Representatives in 2010, much of his agenda was frustrated for the next 6 years of his time in office. Similarly, when President Trump lost the House in 2018, his domestic power was substantially reduced to executive orders which have limited scope and are often challenged in the courts. When the executive and legislative branches lock horns with each other, the real power then flows into the third branch of government: the judicial. In at least some respects, the Supreme Court of the United States now actually does more governing than the President or the Congress.

Whoever is appointed as the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice will have a major impact on all of our lives, regardless of whether or not we reside in the United States. Their impact may indeed last for as long as you and I shall live! The decisions made by the Supreme Court have a direct effect on our life, our planet, American elections, the financial markets, and so much more. Therefore, the world will nail-bitingly watch how events of the next few weeks and months unfold.

To your success,
Andrew