but i think you have to note that it tells a story, has an historical trajectory to it, one that suggests progress. and, it makes assumptions about human beings, human nature, social change, the relationship between people, between people and society, etc. it might be something akin to a meta-narrative we have about our own individual lives. we like to reconstruct our past to suggest some sort of purpose, overlay some sort of meaning that helps us make sense of who we have been, who we are, and who we might become. the language of AA is a language that attempts to help folks understand who they have been, are, and might become by overlaying a meta-narrative of addiction, no? Here's how to understand who you were as an addict, why perhaps you were an addict, what it will mean to see yourself as one, it constructs the addict self in a particular kind of way. ditto meta-narratives with regard to entire societies. but back to the self: ditching a meta-narrative for our would mean what? now that's something to flesh out and might shed insight on what these folks are up to.
gloriA