The USA stands on the brink, facing a historic fork in the road, with the most polarised climate since 1860. It won’t matter much whether Biden wins outright and then faces a hostile Supreme Court and perhaps Senate as Obama did, road-blocking his agenda; or Trump finagles in via the skewed and undemocratic Electoral College system. The challenge is whether a much overdue overhaul of the revered and ancient Constitution is faced up to in coming years.
Legal brains suggest three possibilities ahead – 1) civil war; 2) the break-up of the USA via peaceful secession of various states a la Scotland’s possible exit from the UK; or 3) stagnation similar to the decline of the once mighty Turkish Ottoman Empire over the final two centuries of sclerosis.
This prologue, above and below, is a precis from an excellent piece by Edward Luce in the FT.
Trump’s actions have shattered faith in the idea of checks and balances and the Barrett SCOTUS nomination could light the fuse that ends in a full-blown crisis over America’s founding creed.
Some think the third option is the most likely, as America drifts into becoming the “sick man of the west and reconciles itself to the fact that renewal is not possible. Rather than providing a blueprint for modern reforms, the constitution acts as an entrenched roadblock to change.”
Norman Ornstein says: “If the system is the same in 2030 as it is now, America will start to fall apart.” “The US Senate is an affirmative-action programme for white, rural, Christian conservatives, who have an increasingly powerful veto over America.”
The Constitution, 4 March 1789, is beset by major confusion exactly now, running on from 2019 with tr Pluto square the Neptune; and continues on an increasingly disruptive track with tr Uranus throwing in firecrackers and causing upheavals in square to the Pluto in 2022 and moving on to square Venus and then the Mars in 2025; with tr Saturn dampening enthusiasm and erring on the side of conservatism – with aggravated arguments – from 2022 as it is conjunct the Pluto, Venus, Mars and then crosses over the Sun Saturn in Pisces in 2024.
All of which coincides with the USA 1776 Pluto Return in 2022/2023 with lingering after effects.
The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) 2 February 1790, is in a state of acute uncertainty in 2021 with tr Pluto square the Neptune from late January (till late 2022) and tr Neptune conjunct the Saturn from March onwards for a year; plus a troublesome, rebellious and defiant tr Uranus square the Uranus late this November into December and repeating next spring, and facing even greater instability and challenges to its direction as tr Uranus square the Sun after July 2021 and Pluto in 2022. 2022 is also picking up the downbeat tr Saturn in Aquarius conjunct Sun and Pluto and a high-tension Solar Arc Saturn square Uranus in 2022 as well.
The USA First President chart, 30 April 1789 12.45 am New York, is also in for an exceptionally rough ride with tr Uranus conjunct the Taurus Sun in April and again over the New Year; at the same time as tr Neptune continues to conjunct the Saturn through into January 2022 as well. 2022/3/24 have a raft of roller-coaster difficulties as tr Uranus is conjunct the Pluto and then tr Pluto opposes the Uranus in 2023/24 which could upset the applecart.
The USA 1776 chart shows 2021 as a time of panicky failure with tr Neptune square the Mars with the hostile and toxic debates running on as tr Pluto continues to oppose the Mercury. Then the Pluto Return in 2022/23, followed by setbacks from Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the Mars and square the Neptune in 2024/25.
It certainly fits the thought that suggests this election won’t resolve much, indeed may exacerbate tensions and strain with the liberal push for change running into entrenched conservatism. It also fits Kissinger’s thought that Trump is the kind of figure who turns up at the end of an era. A Pluto Return can bring about the Icarus-like fall of an empire which rose on the previous one and he might just the unwitting exposer of the flaws in the USA governmental system (a la Pluto in Capricorn). Given the Cancerian nature of the USA – shining a critical light on the past and revered forbears, and letting go the old traditional way won’t be easy.