MAgazine
Save the CCA for Artists
Guest writer Georgia Grainger calls for the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow to be retained as a cultural hub for artists via community ownership rather than being lost to the private sector.
Everything wrong with the new 'Universities Defence Alliance'
In this week’s In Common, Rory Hamilton adds a new layer to the saga of university management in Scotland, where three leading Scottish universities have signed up to a charter which asks members to promote the defence industry to students and creates a dependent relationship between defence sector funding and university research priorities.
We failed to invest cleverly - can we learn?
Our failure to understand why China is so good at manufacturing is the failure that will stymie the Burnham Government and which is at the heart of Scotland’s weak government. Where you invest your money matters too much to be left to chance.
Perhaps Scotland should take the dirty road
What if Scotland is deluding itself about its current state of development and what if countries we consider below us are more realistic? Does it suggest that we should take a less formal approach to solving our problems?
Don’t trash the court jester, face them instead
Some political commentators have decried the upcoming electoral battle between Nigel Farage and Count Binface as a farce that is demeaning to our democracy. Instead, we should see it as speaking truth to power where no-one else would.
Make It a Contract, Not a Gift
Guest writer Douglas Guy replies to Craig’s recent article on Zonal Pricing and our Daily Briefing on Data Centre politics by looking at the demand side of the equation and asks if data centres could be supported if they could meet conditions around ownership and environmental impact.
Life After Oligarchy
Oligarchs are now our greatest threat and they are out of control. The only hope for the good society is to build a world beyond their reach.
Where now for informed citizenship post-Election?
Bill Johnston returns for the third part in his series on deliberative democracy with a call for a more informative and more collaborative media environment.
You can't reform oligarchs – we have to walk away
I retain the strong view that almost everyone is still greatly underestimating the power and control the US oligarchs have over our lives. Win or lose, it looks like they will destroy our standard of living so we should opt out of their rigged game right now.
Despite the challenges, football can still unite us
The World Cup shows much of the worst about football - along with much of the best. It may be captured by big business and political agendas, but so long as kids can kick a can in a playground, it remains our game.
Why you should Get to grips with data centre politics
The backlash against data centres is only just reaching the UK but it would be a big mistake to mistake this for ‘just more Nimbyism’. Unless you understand what is different about this backlash you will miss one of the most significant things happening in politics right now.
How Scottish politics got stuck in the mud
Guest writer Stuart Donald, author of a recent paper published in Compass and previous guest on the Common Weal Policy Podcast, looks at last month’s Scottish election results through the lens of his research into proportional democracy
Who Watches the Watchdogs?
Scotland’s Information Commission is doing a power of work to keep Government accountable. But there is a vulnerability in the system where the Government may try to defund organisations that become too effective at their job.
Things could get really scary, so why aren’t we preparing?
Is the Western economy on the brink of a worrying collapse? There are different views on this, but there is enough real world evidence to suggest our failure to prepare could be something we seriously regret.
The problem with humans
It is human nature to be wrong, to be petty, to be scared, to be angry. We cannot stop these things from being true so we have to recognise this reality as we built the systems in which we operate.
Be angry – their stability is your chaos
You have heard politician after politician lauding the merits of 'stability', but have you ever stopped to ask what it is they want to be stable and for who? Once you realise the answer, your grocery bill (and starving children) make a lot more sense.
How the Scottish Government drove a wedge between care experts and the cared for
Mark Smith and Marion Macleod from Common Weal’s Care Reform Group discuss their latest academic paper on how the Scottish Government overused the “lived experience” of cared for people to shield themselves from expert advice about the National Care Service.
Don’t imagine dinner, find a recipe
The Scottish Government is constantly getting lost in the long grass between its vague but ambitious aims and its lacklustre actions. The gap between these things can only be filled with a clear plan which contains analysis and objectives.
Why does the Government keep undermining its own policies?
The Scottish Government’s love of “arms-length” companies should be a strong tool for furthering mission-driven governance, but are often used merely to claim credit when things go well but deflect blame when they go badly.
Government must get its hands dirty
Common Weal could offer the incoming Scottish Government all the policy it needs, but its problem isn’t policy. Its problem is that it doesn’t have a theory of how government works so it doesn’t understand why it isn’t working just now.