Tradition 1 · January 26

Material Things

Daily Traditions · January 26

The threat

Money is one of the oldest ways a group comes apart, and the early members saw it coming before they had a treasury to fight over. Bill W. wrote in 1946 (A.A. pamphlet P-17, p. 27): "We had no group funds, hence no group money troubles." Those were the first years: meetings in homes, coffee and sandwiches. Then groups rented rooms and opened clubs, and money came in with them. Bill named the danger: "Knowing that quarrels over material things have crushed the spirit of many a good undertaking, it is often thought that too much money may prove an evil for us too." Material things are money and property, as against the reason the group meets. A quarrel over the basket can empty a room faster than a quarrel over anything said in it: who spent what, who kept the receipts, whether the reserve should be bigger. The Long Form (Big Book, p. 563) puts "our common welfare" first, and the treasury exists for the common welfare, never the other way round. Today the money quarrel has a newer shape: a group with a large balance, or a facility offering to cover the rent, and the members split over who controls it. Test it tonight: ask how much money your group holds, and whether anyone can say what it is for.

Sit with

The first groups had no money and so had no money fights. What would my group be fighting over if the basket disappeared?

Grounded in: Long form, Tradition 1 (Big Book, p. 563); P-17, p. 27 (Bill W., 1946: Money).

Tradition 1

"Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity."

Read the Long Form (pp. 563–566). The short form on pp. 561–562 is the one everybody quotes — but the Long Form is where the Traditions actually say what they mean. Tradition 3's "no other affiliation" clause, for instance, exists only in the Long Form. That single clause is why no treatment centre can own an A.A. group. Most of what circulates online skips it.

And a distinction worth keeping straight: the Traditions are governance, not theology. They bind A.A. groups and the Fellowship — not individuals, and not outside businesses. They were adopted in 1950 to keep A.A. from being owned or co-opted. They are not a rulebook for your personal life.

What the Traditions actually say → The Long Form, p. 563 → Search the Big Book → Every day this month →

Ask Recovery Einstein about Tradition 1 → Get the app →

← January 25Loan Out Our Goodwill Tradition 1All of January January 27 →Led, Not Pushed

Daily Traditions is an independent educational resource from Recovery Starts — not official A.A. literature, not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, and not medical advice. The Twelve Traditions are the property of A.A. Page references are to Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book), 4th Edition: short form 561–562, long form 563–566. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).