Introduction
Welcome to The Cameron Journal Newsletter!
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, 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.
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Updates
Thank you for staying with me everyone! We mad it through February! It seemed to last forever but now we are in another long month, March! March always seems to last forever and a day.
This week, I’ve been a bit sick, and by Thursday and Friday, the wheels officially fell off the wagon. It’s the worst kind of sick because it’s not “really” sick but that weird “I don’t feel good, but I’m not totally knocked out” kind of sick. I would say it’s a general sort of malaise because of exhaustion. I had major scheduling issues this week (how do folks still not know how to find a zoom email!?!) and its just been a bit of a mess around here. So, thanks for sticking with me and everything. We had some great interviews this week and a productive Newshour on Monday. I am currently planning on writing this and then going back to rest so I can deliver the Newshour on Monday.
Needless to say we’re going to keep things short today.
Maybe it’s time to write that book?
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!
Zelensky and Trump at the White House
This story definitely sucked the air out of the room on Friday. Ukraine’s president, Volodimir Zelensky, arrived at the White House amid peace talks between the US, Russia, and the embattled country. The whole meeting descended into chaos when V.P. Vance decided to wade into the discussion and ask if Zelensky had ever thanked anyone for the billions of weapons and aid that Ukraine has gotten. Someone even asked if he owned a suit, as he has never been seen wearing one. In any case, the back-and-forth that took place between the three leaders was tawdry at best. You can watch the most explosive part of the exchange here.It is obvious that Ukraine is going to be on its own once a peace deal is signed. Trump is also trying to shakedown Ukraine for rare earth minerals and wants Zelensky to sign a new deal where American companies can buy or exploit Ukraine’s vast resources. It is not enough that Ukraine is going to lose territory, they are going to pay for the privilege to lose it.
The much-ballyhooed decline of US hegemony seems to be more in sight than ever before, at least based on the reaction across social media. China and Russia are working to recruit former Federal Employees and the chief diplomat at the EU says that new leadership for the West is needed based on the behavior of the current US administration. It appears that China didn’t need to do anything other than wait for its moment to seize the global stage.
This whole thing looks terrible. The US has already proven itself to be an unreliable ally based on the recent comments from Trump and Vance about Europe’s security and the way they want Europe to focus on Ukraine so the US can summarily pull-out. Based on the Friday press conference (which AP and Reuters were restricted), this has permanently damaged the American reputation on the world stage and has leaders across the world questioning what to do next.
As a cake topper to this whole thing, Canada has announced that it will impose a 25% tariff on all American goods as a response to Trump’s tariff plan, which will go into effect this month. Trump is resetting US foreign policy in ways that will change the world, our position in it, and our success moving forward. You truly don’t know what you have until it’s gone.
The Budget
This week, the show about the federal budget started down in Congress. This week, the House passed an initial budget resolution setting priorities for the 13 pieces of legislation that form the budget for the Federal government. What got the most attention was the $880 billion cut to Medicaid over the next 10 years. Medicaid, especially after its expansion with the Affordable Care Act, fully insures about 1/3 of the country, especially children. This cut will represent a loss of healthcare for millions of vulnerable people who can’t afford to buy health insurance and don’t get it from an employer.
Elon also went on Rogan this week to talk about DOGE and various budget cuts, and the clip that is currently going around is of him saying that Social Security is a ponzi scheme that relies on current workers to pay for the workers of the past. He’s not wrong; that’s how entitlement programs work in general. Trump has promised no cuts to entitlement programs, but they will never reach their spending cuts without touching them. Based on the budget resolution passed this week, it seems like cuts are on the table, even to Social Security.
Speaking of the budget, Trump has announced his new Gold Card program, which offers permanent residency for $5 million and creates 10 jobs. Trump thinks this could be an excellent new way to raise money to close the deficit and attract fresh foreign investment into the country. I wouldn’t say anyone is up in arms about it, but it is a strange thing to do. We already had an investment visa (EB-!), and it was only $1 million. Trump thinks he can sell these to anyone paying around the world and make a tidy sum for the government. The reality is that the US has the largest concentration of people with a net worth over $5 million, and there aren’t that many people around the planet who could afford it or want it. Oh, and there is a question over whether this needs Congressional approval…
From The Cameron Journal
From my new collection: What the Hell is Going On?
Of all my essays on capitalism and economics, this is probably my favorite one. It is where I really break down why Americans are paid so little, why our purchasing power has been eroded and why consumer goods are so cheap while everything else is not.
Articles of Interest:
Daniel Sanderson is back this week with a new installment in his Plato series and he’s in profile this week in the interview section where we learn more about him and his life.
Keep up with The Cameron Journal Podcast
The Interview:
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