AA benign anarchy and democracy
When we enter AA, we find an individual liberty more than any other company. We can not be forced to do anything. In this sense, our association is a benign anarchy. For most of us the word 'anarchy' sounds bad. But I think the idealist who has supported this concept, the first thought that if all men had ever enjoyed full freedom and had been compelled to obey anyone, they would have united themselves This in the common interest. AA are, relatively speaking, a company of this kind.
But when we had to take action to act as a group - we discovered that we had also become a democracy. Gradually, as our veterans retired, we started to elect, by majority, our faithful servants. All action plans of the group had to be approved by a majority. This meant that nobody could identify himself to act on behalf of the group or association of AA itself. Neither dictatorship nor paternalism will suit us.
AA Comes of Age - p 224/225
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