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In 1934, Wynyard Browne, writing in THE ENGLISH REVIEW (Vol 58, pp 503-505)

reported his observations on the Oxford Groups. " The Oxford Groups claim to be

inaugurating a world revival. They believe that, by their methods, all our

wrongs can be set right. The movement therefore has political as well as

specifically religious significance. . . . The members of the Groups are almost

exclusively of the middle class. Their desire fot the 'dictatorship' of the

Holy Spirit is similar to the desire of the middle classes in Germany for the

dictatorship of Hitler. . . . They have very little theology and no respect for

Christian tradition. " This was the general understanding of the Oxford Groups

held by liberal, pro-labor union, and leftist politicians during the years of

the Great Depression. The Oxford Groupers did not deny their attraction to the

Hitlerite model of social change; indeed, Buchman himself claimed " God has sent

Hitler to Germany " to be its protector and leader. One year AFTER Wynyard

Browne made his observation about the Oxford Groups's pro-fascist inclination,

down-on-his-luck stock speculator and con man, , joined the

movement. was no fool. Buchman's movement was understood very well in

New York City. enthusiastically and knowingly adopted the Oxford Group

version of fascism. Later, as the world political climate changed with the

onset of WWII, took his very small following out of the Oxford Groups

because he was urged to do so by administrators working for the Rockefeller

charitable institutions. set up a small splinter group, which was

directly supervised and directed by the Rockefeller men. was hoping to

get a cash advance from Rockefeller with which to establish a chain of

" treatment centers " in which he planned to indoctrinate low-income Americans

with an American version of fascism. D. Rockefeller, Jr., and other rich

and powerful corporate leaders, were much interested in this idea, as they had

been dismayed by labor union and left-wing unrest during the Great Depression.

There was very, very little in the early AA " program " that was not borrowed

whole cloth from the Oxford Groups. Even the bromides were taken out of the

Oxford Groups; " Pass it On! " , for example, was Buchman's favorite saying.

himself was forced to admit all this in later years. AA did have to

adopt a lower profile during the war, and also during the liberal heyday of the

1950s and 1960s. Today,with the right wing on the rise, AA and the 12-Step

movement have returned, and Buchman's vision of a world-wide revolution is now

at the center of America's " conservative revolution. " Today's 12-Steppers are

no mystery. They are Buchman's descendents, the changes in the " program " are

mostly minor, and the link to fascism is direct. The goal remains exactly what

it was. A fascist dictatorship of the higher powers in America.

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