Hi m0rl0ck,
m0rl0ck wrote:How long has smart recovery been in existence? Where does the money from that "donate" link go?
The first question was answered earlier in this thread, as the second. Regarding the second question:
Just click on the "donate" link from this page:
SMART Recovery
If that's not satisfying enough, try this.
SMART Recovery Anual Report
And while SMART Recovery is a legal
non-profit, AA is an incorporated
business, meaning that financial profit is one of their purposes. This has been the case since its inception.
From this
Twelve Things That Alcoholics Anonymous Doesn't Want You to Know
Over ten billion dollars per year is spent promoting AA: 12 step treatment programs were invented by AA members for the purpose of promoting AA to a captive audience. The world's first 12 step treatment program was created in Ohio in 1940 through the collaboration of AA co-fonder Dr. Bob Smith and a Catholic nun named Sister Ignatia at St Thomas Hospital (Darrah, 2001). Shortly thereafter several AA members got together in Minnesota to found Hazelden treatment center in Minnesota (McElrath, 1987). Ninety-five percent of hospitals and treatment centers in the US use the 12 steps not because the 12 steps are effective at treating drinking problems, but rather because AA has been highly effective at doing PR to promote AA. AA member Marty Mann founded the National Council on Alcoholism in 1944 for the sole purpose of doing PR for AA; she was eventually fronted millions of dollars by AA member Brinkley Smithers for this purpose (Peele 1997). According to Stanton Peele [Diseasing of America: How we allowed recovery zealots and the treatment industry to convince us we are out of control. Peele, S. (1989, 1995]. Lexington, MA/San Francisco: Lexington Books/Jossey-Bass.) over ten billion dollars a year alone is spent on 12 step treatment programs in the US. Twelve step treatment programs don't cure drunks but they do promote AA. This is not to mention the money spent by the National Council on Alcoholism and the fact that every TV show you see these days has an AA character in it. This is clearly a program of "promotion, not attraction."
See also:
Documents concerning AA Web Site Inc.
Orange Papers
The William Griffith Wilson (Bill W.) Estate & Lois Burnham Wilson Estate
Kindly,
dL