Die? Or recover? Hmmm.

Continuing in this general Traditions vein here are some of Bill W's thoughts from 1947 about the fact that there is no central authority in Alcoholics Anonymous (and let's remember that in our early years we were all over the place with rules and regulations and processes and procedures - it was the wild west of A.A.):

"It is not strange that the only real authority to be found in A.A. is that of spiritual principle.  It is never personal authority.  Still, it is a fact that most of us do follow, in our personal lives, the Twelve Suggested Steps to recovery.  We prefer recovery to death.  Then, little by little, we perceive the spiritual basis of life is the best.  We conform because we want to."

First of all, isn't it great that alcoholics make the decision between dying and recovering some kind of close horse race?  That is SO great.  I can't emphasize enough how important the idea that punishment in my personal life comes from a lack of spirituality and not from a central authority.  Can you imagine this set-up in your work life?  You fuck off at work and your boss lets you be, believing that you'll come around when you see the wisdom of the system the company has set up.  And trust me, I have a lot of personal experience in this technique and it is not a workable technique if you want to stay employed.

Some more stuff about what inevitably befalls anyone who tries to take charge (including - especially - Bill W. himself) . . . 

"Some A.A. groups elect their leaders.  but even with such a mandate each leader soon discovers that while he can always guide by example or persuasion he can never boss, else at election time he may find himself passed by.  After struggling for a few years to run the A.A. movement I had to give it up  - it simply didn't work.  Heavy-handed assertion of my personal  authority always created confusion and resistance.  If I took sides in a controversy, I was joyfully quoted by some, while others murmured, "And just who does this dictator think he is?"  If I sharply  criticized, I usually got double criticism on the return bounce.  Personal power always failed.

"