The big freak out right now has to do with the supreme court. If you don't understand what it does, you won't understand why everyone is up in arms. So I would do some research on that.

I believe the president has the ability to appoint supreme judges. Or possibly the senate but that will come out if you do some research. There are only a handful of them. The House has the ability to approve supreme judges. Supreme judges have a lifelong(or until retirement) appointment. Whoever controls The House at the time of one judges retirement or death, means they can choose someone to judge very big laws that have branching effects on our lives.

Do you feel like weed should be legalized? They have the final say. Do you feel like alcohol should be prohibited again? They have the final say.

The House had been controlled by Republicans for a long time, and they refused to approve any judges under the later half of the Obama presidency. They just refused to do their job until their side(GOP) was in chsrge. Once Trump took over, he started appointing very young conservative leaning judges that will be choosing our nation's laws for the next 30-40 years. People have been upset for a few years now because Trump is turning out highest court in the law far conservative. Nationwide laws like legal abortion could be revoked. I don't pay attention to most of it because it depresses me that our system works on these lifetime appointments but whatever.

RBG was helping keep everything in the center so that a logical argument could be made between the judges. She has also been prided as being a big advancer of woman's rights. I don't know much about her besides the news of the last 5 years, but I understand why people are afraid if this as a tipping point.

She probably has a lifetime achievements that I am ignorant of. I am just pointing out why her death is very important to people at this point of time.