The Basket, the Reserve and the Workbook

The Basket, the Reserve and the Workbook

Curious about how money, service, and spirituality collide inside Alcoholics Anonymous? Season 14, episode 5 of *Alcoholics Alive!* pulls back the curtain on AA’s finance discussions with a mix of humour, straight talk, and service experience. Hosts Shank and Wayne walk through key finance items for the upcoming General Service Conference, including the shrinking reserve fund, rising conference costs, and the push to promote AA’s publishing arms.

You’ll hear them question whether adding more promotional language about Grapevine and La Viña to self‑support materials really helps the suffering alcoholic, or just props up what’s starting to look like a business model. As they put it bluntly, “Stop spending. It’s not going to increase [contributions] enough to make up for the deficit.” They also tackle a proposal for a conference‑approved 12‑step workbook, framed as a response to requests from incarcerated women.

Drawing on real prison‑meeting experience, they argue that the basic text already is “a really good 12‑step guide” when brought to life by recovered members, and that more workbooks may just pull AA further away from its core message. On conference costs, they highlight eye‑watering figures like $36,000 spent on coffee and rising area costs to send delegates to New York, raising the question: do these expenses reflect AA’s own principles of self‑support and simplicity?

To lighten things up, the Meeting Shrapnel segment returns with classic AA sayings, including the keeper: “The good news is our steps are suggestive only, the bad news is we have no other suggestions.” It’s funny, but it also lands a serious point about where AA’s real solution lies.

If you care about AA as a way of life and wonder where your basket money goes, this episode gives plenty to think about—and might just nudge you to talk to your delegate and protect your own home group. How are your group’s finances lining up with its primary purpose?