The December 2001 Socialist Standard is now online.
Follow the link below

 http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb


and read essays such as 'Who's afraid of the WTO?' and
'Tobin tax - what a joke':

"[Susan] George's preference for a low rate [of Tobin
tax], to raise money to spend in the Third World, is
in accordance with ATTAC's main declared aim, but it
involves calling people on to the streets not to
denounce capitalist exploitation, but to demand a
minimal tax on the financial transactions in which
capitalists try to swindle each other out of the past
exploitation of the working class. It really is one
of the most pathetic reform proposals for which people
have ever been called upon to demonstrate for.."

Other essays include 'How socialism could increase
food production', 'Redefining war' as well as 'Marx
and Lenin's views contrasted'. This month's book
review section covers the Koran as well as Ian
Tattershall's 'Becoming Human: Evolution and Human
Uniqueness'. Mention must also be made of 'The
Greasy Pole', 'The Voice from the Back' and 'Cold
Charity', which contrasts Andrew Carnegie's view on
the necessity of charity with that of Oscar Wilde:

"They try to solve the problem of poverty, for
instance, by keeping the poor alive; or in the case of
a very advanced school, by amusing the poor. But
this is not the solution; it is an aggravation of the
difficulty. The proper aim is to reconstruct society
on such a basis that poverty will be impossible".

Your letters, comments, questions, requests for
literature etc., are always welcome