Self-Supporting

 Ah, yes, the Seventh Tradition.  Everyone knows what it says but how many of us have taken the time to understand why it's so necessary?  What it means.  The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous was written in 1939 but the Traditions didn't come about until 1946 and the 12 & 12 - where the Steps and the Traditions were fleshed out in much greater detail - first appeared in 1953.  These Traditions - called Twelve Points to Assure Our Future initially - were born out of hard experience in the chaos that is A.A.  None of them were tossed out casually.  All of them were necessary to make sure we didn't eat ourselves alive.  Those first several years were the wild, wild West in A.A.

I've heard it said the Steps are for the individual and the Traditions are for the groups for without the group the individual is in a whole lot of trouble.  Individuals get to do what they want as long as they don't threaten the group and the group gets to do what it wants as long as it doesn't threaten A.A. as a whole.  I'm always struck by the fact that both the Steps and the Traditions key on those core ideas of money, power, prestige, those things that can destroy both the individual and the group if left unchecked.

Some interesting anecdotes: at the start I bitched mightily about putting money in the basket but I always - ALWAYS - had the cash for drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes.  If you can afford an overpriced specialty coffee drink you can afford to contribute to your group.

When I was getting sober I set a jar near my front door and every day I tossed in the money I would have spent on those three staples.  I was flabbergasted by how fast it added up.  I should mention that I was drinking quarts of Colt 45, not Chivas Regal, so the daily contributions were pretty meager.

Have you checked out the prices for alcohol at a restaurant lately?  Holy shit, who can afford to drink that stuff?  I should be throwing a twenty into the basket.  I'd still be getting off cheap.