RobinMcAlpine.org
About this website
Hi, I’m Robin McAlpine and this site is about trying to hold power to account in Scotland, help people understand what’s really going on and provide some kind of hope that it might actually change. You can find out all about it below.
Robin
Who am I?
My name is Robin McAlpine and everything I’m doing with this website is purely in a personal capacity. I graduated from Glasgow University and then worked in journalism, political strategy and lobbying. In 2010 I decided to give up a well-paid career to try and do something to change Scotland for the better, setting up first the Jimmy Reid Foundation think tank and then after that Common Weal. I am still Head of Strategic Development at Common Weal and as committed to the work we’re doing there as I’ve always been. I was a very active campaigner in the 2014 independence referendum and have campaigned on many social, environmental and economic issues over the years.
Why did I start this website?
Scotland is in a mess – it’s media woefully under-powered, it’s institutions opaque and little scrutinised, its policy agenda pitifully unimaginative and of course underneath all this a seemingly endless range of social, environmental and economic failures which simply never seem to change or go away. I’ve always believed that the first step in changing something is understanding it. I started this website because there just isn’t enough serious interested in holding power to account or taking seriously the public policy which shapes our lives. So I’m going to try and do the best I can to remedy some of this here.
What am I hoping to achieve?
For the last decade I’ve been trying to change Scotland by developing realistic, innovative and courageous policy ideas and I will continue to do that with Common Weal. But a time came when I couldn’t really pretend any longer that the closed ‘governing classes’ of Scotland were interested in change, comfortable as they are in their little empires. If people better understood how this governing class is really governing Scotland I believe the momentum for change would grow. I’ve focussed on positive and constructive ideas about the future – but I fear that without a cold, hard look at the present they’ll always remain just ideas. Plus frankly I believe that, for the record if nothing else, the abuse of power must be recorded.
What I believe in
Since my pram I’ve been dragged on CND marches, to protests about injustice and to meetings about Scotland’s independence. My memories of these were about people who wanted to change things together – who would disagree, sometimes profoundly, but who could put aside disagreements to try and make things better, to get things to happen. We seem to be living in an age where disagreeing makes us enemies and I hate it. I believe that there is common cause to be found if only we could stop permanently looking for the flaws in each other. When I set up Common Weal I created the tagline ‘All Of Us First’ and this captures what I hoped for – a society where it’s about everyone gaining, not just those you agree on obtuse detail. I know that we build more when we build together and that Scotland’s only hope of the future it deserves is if we do exactly that – build together and forgive each other for not being perfect. As I write on this site I will develop the philosophy which underpins how I feel about the world. I’m doing this because Scotland needs scrutiny to change – but what Scotland does not need is more petty name-calling or purity-measuring. Or that’s what I believe anyway.
How you can help
I have reduce my working hours with Common Weal to enable me to do this so I’m never going to say no to a little financial help. But mostly I want your ideas and energy – and expertise where you have it. You can find out more on the Contribute page.
Getting in touch with me
You can send me things to help shape the site by emailing me at contribute@robinmcalpine.org or just get in contact at robin@robinmcalpine.org.
RobinMcAlpine.org
About this website
Hi, I’m Robin McAlpine and this site is about trying to hold power to account in Scotland, help people understand what’s really going on and provide some kind of hope that it might actually change. You can find out all about it below.
Robin
Who am I?
My name is Robin McAlpine and everything I’m doing with this website is purely in a personal capacity. I graduated from Glasgow University and then worked in journalism, political strategy and lobbying. In 2010 I decided to give up a well-paid career to try and do something to change Scotland for the better, setting up first the Jimmy Reid Foundation think tank and then after that Common Weal. I am still Head of Strategic Development at Common Weal and as committed to the work we’re doing there as I’ve always been. I was a very active campaigner in the 2014 independence referendum and have campaigned on many social, environmental and economic issues over the years.
Why did I start this website?
Scotland is in a mess – it’s media woefully under-powered, it’s institutions opaque and little scrutinised, its policy agenda pitifully unimaginative and of course underneath all this a seemingly endless range of social, environmental and economic failures which simply never seem to change or go away. I’ve always believed that the first step in changing something is understanding it. I started this website because there just isn’t enough serious interested in holding power to account or taking seriously the public policy which shapes our lives. So I’m going to try and do the best I can to remedy some of this here.
What am I hoping to achieve?
For the last decade I’ve been trying to change Scotland by developing realistic, innovative and courageous policy ideas and I will continue to do that with Common Weal. But a time came when I couldn’t really pretend any longer that the closed ‘governing classes’ of Scotland were interested in change, comfortable as they are in their little empires. If people better understood how this governing class is really governing Scotland I believe the momentum for change would grow. I’ve focussed on positive and constructive ideas about the future – but I fear that without a cold, hard look at the present they’ll always remain just ideas. Plus frankly I believe that, for the record if nothing else, the abuse of power must be recorded.
What I believe in
Since my pram I’ve been dragged on CND marches, to protests about injustice and to meetings about Scotland’s independence. My memories of these were about people who wanted to change things together – who would disagree, sometimes profoundly, but who could put aside disagreements to try and make things better, to get things to happen. We seem to be living in an age where disagreeing makes us enemies and I hate it. I believe that there is common cause to be found if only we could stop permanently looking for the flaws in each other. When I set up Common Weal I created the tagline ‘All Of Us First’ and this captures what I hoped for – a society where it’s about everyone gaining, not just those you agree on obtuse detail. I know that we build more when we build together and that Scotland’s only hope of the future it deserves is if we do exactly that – build together and forgive each other for not being perfect. As I write on this site I will develop the philosophy which underpins how I feel about the world. I’m doing this because Scotland needs scrutiny to change – but what Scotland does not need is more petty name-calling or purity-measuring. Or that’s what I believe anyway.
How you can help
I have reduce my working hours with Common Weal to enable me to do this so I’m never going to say no to a little financial help. But mostly I want your ideas and energy – and expertise where you have it. You can find out more on the Contribute page.
Getting in touch with me
You can send me things to help shape the site by emailing me at contribute@robinmcalpine.org or just get in contact at robin@robinmcalpine.org.