Introduction
Welcome to The Cameron Journal Newsletter! This we’re talking about the Department of Education being shut down, the lack of new insights into the JFK assassination the new “abundance” agenda. It’s another busy week in news!
About The Cameron Journal
Each week I send out the latest headlines, the latest videos from The Cameron Journal and commentary about the week’s events. If you’re new here, my name is Cameron Lee Cowan M.A. MFA, and I’m the Creative Director here at The Cameron Journal. You can learn more about me on the about page.I do research and commentary on politics, culture, and the world around us. Remember, The World is Hard, This is Not.
Sign up for CameronJournal+
If you love these newsletters and want to support my work at The Cameron Journal, please consider signing up for CameronJournal+. You will get exclusive content for CJ+ subscribers, access to our discord and special hang-outs with me. It’s the coolest club in town!
Updates
Welcome to late March! March is one of those months that seems to drag on forever and ever. It’s in the January of spring months. But that is ok with me, I’ve accomplished much this month and I want to finish strong.
I want to say hello again to all the new people who have recently subscribed but I also want to remind everyone that if you enjoy this newsletter, please feel free to forward it on to your friends and family. I really appreciate it. One of my goals for this year is really build a community here at The Cameron Journal. I want to be a place where we can share ideas, find like-minded people, and network together to survive these times. The more resources and community that we have, the better off we all can be.
This week I wrote an article on Trump’s economic reset. I’ll send it out in a future newsletter. It will be placed at Brainz Magazine where I am a Senior Contributor. I talk about how Trump is trying to use tariffs and currency devaluation to remake the American economy. Whether it will work or not remains to be seen but it seems unlikely. It will be an interesting read.
I’m enjoying the spring-like weather. Warmer days and sunny temperatures are much needed at this time of year. As a side note, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was at my alma mater, the University of Northern Colorado on Friday and drew a crowd of 11,000 people. I remember when Biden came to campus to stump for Obama in 2008 and drew a massive crowd. My friend Erica Parish-Diaz got to sit behind him on stage and had a great TV moment.
You can write that book and publish it!
You can write a book in 2025 and I can help! My new writing courses are out now, and you can sign up for Fiction, Non-Fiction or both! To learn more, please visit The Cameron Journal Academy and check out my course: The Power of Story.
Study Plato with Daniel Sanderson
We’ve partnered with Daniel Sanderson, through The Cameron Journal Academy, to offer his new Plato course, Re-imagining Plato. If you’re interested in getting in-depth with this Stoic philosopher, this is the course for you, and it’s only $100 for lifetime access!
The Latest
Let’s dive into the stories I’m following this week!
The End of the Department of Education
In 1980, Ronald Reagan ran on ending the Department of Education. Killing DoE has been a GOP agenda item since then in various forms and on March 21, 2025, they finally got their wish. President Trump announced that the department was being shut down. Student loans would move to the Small Business Administration and Nutrition and special education and needs would move over to Health and Human Services. No word on the oversight of civil rights protections like Title IX.
The constitutionality of a President ending a department authorized by Congress is dubious and there will likely be a court battle, especially over the funding. Poorer school districts rely on federal funding to fill in the gaps from money they cannot raise themselves. Although this is billed as a move to return education to the states, the reality is that states already control most of education. Federal funding is vital for many districts to be able to afford to provide certain services and meet federal requirements and in the case of some districts, operate at all. We already have 50 different outcomes in education and the education gap between poor and rich states will get dramatically worse. School districts that can raise taxes likely will have to raise them to fill in funding gaps. America’s children will be worse off for the loss of this oversight and vital funding. But then the point of this isn’t to save money is it? The point of this is to undermine liberal power bases like education. With the news that Columbia is planning on meeting every demand of the Trump administration, it has been a tough week for education.
JFK Nothingburger?
This week President Trump announced he was declassifying and releasing 80,000 documents related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. Everyone was waiting for something big to come out but there wasn’t much to it (so far). A few new names were mentioned and the only juicy fact that came out was the fact that the CIA had been tracking Lee Harvey Oswald for years before the day.
This week I happened to have an interview cued up about this with Jack Moore and you can watch our analysis of what we thought might be released back in February and some interesting insights from him. He does a great job of shooting down most of the popular conspiracy theories and we have a great chat about Dorothy Kilgallen and how she nearly proved it was the mob that ordered the shooting….or did they?
Ezra Klein’s Abundance Agenda
This week, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson released their new book, “Abundance.”The discourse on Twitter has been interesting. It has split most leftist accounts for a variety of reasons.
The basis of the abundance “agenda” is that liberals need to articulate a vision of the future that includes building things, improving lives and expanding the economy. The book focuses on housing but also includes other critical infrastructure. The jacket says that “To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history of unaffordability and shortage.” They even argue for more immigration to import more workers. Better transportation and getting America moving again (both economically and physically). The abundance agenda seems to advocate more of everything. If the 21st century seems like it has been stagnation and delay then this book advocates to pick up the pace and to use state capacity to do it so every project doesn’t turn into the California High Speed Rail debacle.
But is that a good idea? Those who are passionate about climate change would say not necessarily. And let’s face it, much of the dialogue of Liberal politics has been one of degrowth. Let’s think about the people who want to remove dams to preserve rivers or “re-wild” certain areas and block construction. The reality is that we have people here and we need new bridges, wider roads, upgraded schools, much more housing and new industries and jobs.
The summary of the book says, “Abundance explains that our problems today are not the results of yesteryear’s villains. Rather, one generation’s solutions have become the next generation’s problems. Rules and regulations designed to solve the problems of the 1970s often prevent urban-density and green-energy projects that would help solve the problems of the 2020s. Laws meant to ensure that government considers the consequences of its actions have made it too difficult for government to act consequentially. In the last few decades, our capacity to see problems has sharpened while our ability to solve them has diminished.
Progress requires facing up to the institutions in life that are not working as they need to. It means, for liberals, recognizing when the government is failing. It means, for conservatives, recognizing when the government is needed. In a book exploring how we can move from a liberalism that not only protects and preserves but also builds…”
I think I like this idea. I want to read the book and dig more into it. On the face, I like the idea. I think it can inspire people to believe in the country again. But will be able to wrest green spaces and the change the policies of the past so we can fix the problems of today? I’m not so sure. The environmental and green movement is a primary driver of the Democratic party and many activists are still advocating for preserving nature rather than building, no matter how harmonious that building might be. I do worry about the environmental cost of a building agenda, especially given our new trade policy.
The discourse so far, as I said, has been divided and there are a few camps. One camp is the people who think is a leading vision for the future of the Democrats. There are others that argue this is more moderate neo-liberal schlock meant to enrich corporations at the expense of regular people. Still others are occupied with the idea that Ezra Klein has swooped in from above to offer these ideas without realizing that we have bigger problems. The abundance agenda will be buzzing around for some time and I’m sure I will have a chance to share more thoughts in the future.
From The Cameron Journal
From my new collection: What the Hell is Going On?
Articles of Interest:
Keep up with The Cameron Journal Podcast
The Interview:
The Cameron Journal Newshour:
Discover more from The Cameron Journal
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
