The Progressive Disease Roland H. Demonstrated to the World – Paul K.

About This Speaker Tape

A rudder can't steer a ship until the vessel is moving. Paul K. looks back at the wreckage of the early days, where a collection of unrelated events and "feet of clay" somehow forged a lifeline.

He recalls the story of Roland Hazard, a wealthy alcoholic who found that psychoanalysis left him in the gutter, but a need for "oneness" with a Higher Power offered a way out. Paul describes the gritty origins in Akron—the tinkling glasses of the Mayflower Hotel and the "mean son of a bitch" that Dr.

Bob became when drinking. He strips away the myth of the 12 steps being written in five minutes, calling the Big Book a "sales tool" rather than a textbook. For Paul, the fellowship survived not through unity, but through disunity and the "power of attraction." He closes with the image of a dying Bob Smith in a wheelchair, pleading with the room to keep the program simple and not "louse it up."

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Paul K. introduces himself and reflects on the 'illusion' of the fellowship's survival.
• 4:30 Discussion of the 'seeker' nature of alcoholics and the pursuit of a union with a Higher Power.
• 8:15 The story of Roland H. and the limits of psychiatry in treating alcoholism.
• 13:40 The historical meeting between Bill W. and Bob S. and the role of the Oxford Group.
• 18:20 The distinction between the Oxford Group's Christian requirements and AA's 'Higher Power as you understand him'.
• 23:10 Laughter: The story of Tommy B. and his habit of starting new groups based on weekly resentments.
• 27:45 Reflections on the early days of 'attraction rather than promotion' and the stigma of being a drunk.
• 32:10 The 'Akron Cult' and the debate over whether AA was born in New York or Akron.
• 38:00 The emotional account of Bob S.'s final address at the 1950 Cleveland conference.
• 43:15 Final warning against the 'hammerlock' of the disease and the importance of one drunk working with another.