Millions Would Have Ruined Us

In 1937 A.A. nearly became an industry on purpose. Eighteen members met in Akron and voted for paid workers and A.A.-owned hospitals, and Bill W. was sent to New York to raise the money (A.A. pamphlet P-44): "This would require considerable money — millions perhaps." The rich men said no. The hospitals were never built, the missionaries never hired, and the young Fellowship stayed broke, unpaid, and unowned. Years later Bill wrote the verdict: "We didn't know that millions would have ruined us even more than no money at all." Ruined — his word, about getting funded. A paid A.A. would have been an agency with clients, and an agency can die of a budget. A fellowship of unpaid drunks cannot, because there is nothing to cut. Tradition 8 is that lucky escape written down, so luck would never be needed again.