Why the Big Book Says ‘Fully Concede’ – Mickey B.

About This Speaker Tape

January 15, 1983. A man in total desperation, not knowing who he is or what he is saying, cries out for help from outside himself. Mickey B. doesn't deal in "lip flapping party line bullshit" or Hallmark versions of surrender

. He speaks of a "two-fold disease"—an obsession of the mind and an allergy of the body—that turns a "delicate little duck" into a predatory eagle. To Mickey, sobriety is just being a "son of a bitch" where everything is real; true recovery is different.

He argues that admitting defeat is a temporary fix, like the German army in WWI who surrendered only to return in WWII. Instead, he demands a "full concession" at the gut level, smashing the delusion that we are like other people. Hitting bottom isn't about the wreckage of lost families or jail time—those are just outside conditions.

The real bottom is the "gift of desperation" that forces a godless man to turn back to a Higher Power.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Mickey B. opens with a gritty introduction and mentions starting young people's conventions in Australia in 1994.
• 4:15 Discussion of the 'step before the steps' and the necessity of fully conceding to the innermost self.
• 10:30 Laughter: Mickey B. describes his 'abnormal reaction to alcohol' compared to his siblings.
• 15:45 Mickey B. admits to his past racism and hatred of foreigners, describing his internal turmoil.
• 22:10 The 'Duck to Eagle' metaphor: how alcohol changes his perception of reality.
• 28:50 A historical analogy using WWI and WWII to explain the difference between surrender and fully conceding.
• 35:20 Deep dive into the 'gift of desperation' and the definition of hitting bottom.
• 42:10 The Jaguar metaphor: explaining the 'care of a Higher Power' in Step 3.
• 48:00 Mickey B. discusses the 'absence of power' and his conversation with Father M.
• 54:15 A touching story about his mother's pride and her passing with a smile.