Sunday, October 2, 2005

RAGHU'S WILDFIRES OF INANITY by Chunk Wheeler

I surfed the internet this morning and found a site in which Chancellor Mathur endorses some sort of New Age “self-esteem” technique; it entails giving people blue ribbons and saying "Bing!"

I’m not making this up. I swear!

The url is

http://www.blueribbons.com/events_stand.html

At this particular site, Raghu declares:

“The ‘... Who I Am Makes A Difference’ system helps create a wildfire of dignity, respect, creativity and positive communication among students, faculty and the community-at-large. Helice 'the Spark' Bridges’ humor, powerful delivery and innovative leadership provides students and faculty with effective ways to uplift the human spirit, sustain positive relationships, and make their dreams come true.”--Raghu P. Mathur, Ed.D., Chancellor Saddleback College [sic]

A “wildfire of dignity”? "The Spark"?

As it turns out, Ms. Bridges’ “system” has everything to do with a story. The story starts like this:

A teacher in New York decided to honor each of her high school seniors for the difference they made in her life. Then she presented each of them with a Blue Ribbon imprinted with gold letters, which read, "Who I Am Makes a Difference."®

Afterwards the teacher gave each of the students three more ribbons to acknowledge others, to see what impact it would have in their community. They were to follow up on the results, see who honored whom and report back to the class the following week.

--Let’s cut to the chase: in the story, one student gives a ribbon to a “junior executive,” who in turn gives a ribbon to his boss. The boss gets all mushy and eventually pins his son. The kid begins to “sob and sob.” Turns out the kid was about to kill himself with a gun. The story ends with the kid saying: "I was planning on committing suicide tomorrow, Dad, because I didn't think you loved me. Now I don't need to."

Yeah, right. Then we get this:

Imagine…A Blue Ribbon on Every Heart!
To Order Blue Ribbons…Call 800-887-8422

For a measly $149, Ms. Bridges will send you 600 “uncut blue ribbons.” She sells all sort of crap on that site.

Ms. Bridges' goofy "system" is pretty simple: it boils down to launching these emotional pyramid schemes. It all takes "one minute":

In a minute or less…you can change the world!

Step 1 - Focus on the good:
…Sit or stand in front of the person...Show them the Blue Ribbon….

Step 2 - Express your appreciation:
Tell them how they make a difference!…

Step 3 - Respect their choice to receive your gift…

Step 4 - ...Place the Blue Ribbon above their heart…pointed slightly upwards and say, "I'm placing this ribbon above your heart toward all your best dreams coming true!"

Say, "YOU ROCK! I BELIEVE IN YOU! GO FOR YOUR DREAMS!"

Step 5 - Lighten them up and cheer them on:
Point to the globe on the ribbon and tell them…"Inside of this globe are cheerleaders, cheering you on for your dreams. I am one of them. To get the whole community jumping for your dreams, I'm going to put a "Spark" by placing my finger on the cheerleaders and saying BING! .... 


Step 6 - Connect heart-to-heart:
Hug, shake hands, smile.... 


Step 7 - Give them a chance to be a Spark for others:
Present two extra Blue Ribbons and two copies of the Who I Am Makes A Difference® Story so that others will have the opportunity to become Difference Maker "Sparks" and make a positive difference in the world.


--I’m not making this shit up, really I’m not. This is the very system that Raghu says “helps create a wildfire of dignity….” Elsewhere on the site, we’re told:

Imagine kids … growing up … where all people are built up, encouraged to live their dreams and are passionate about making the world a better place. Helice “The Spark” Bridges had this dream ...In 1980, at the age of 38, Helice “Sparky” Bridges…discovered that people were literally staving [sic] for recognition. It was then she decided that people of every age, race, religion, nationality and economic status deserved to be appreciated, respected and loved. As a result, she created a “Who I Am Makes A Difference”® “One Minute Blue Ribbon Acknowledgement™” process…The spirit of the Blue Ribbon acknowledgment message began to ripple throughout communities. People told stories of how this “One Minute Blue Ribbon Acknowledgment™” healed broken marriages, stopped fights, increased grades and raised self-esteem…By 1983, Helice founded Difference Makers International, a nonprofit educational organization…She changed the buttons to blue ribbons with the words “Who I Am Makes A Difference”® stamped in gold…People began to order Blue Ribbons throughout the world....

Evidently, Ms. Bridges has traveled the world over to promote her inane and undignified “just say 'Bing'” philosophy.

Hey, this is starting to sound familiar. Wait a minute! Yessirree. Check out the schedule for the district's opening ceremonies for Fall 2003. There, one will find the following:

Special Guest Speaker: Who I Am Makes A Difference
Ms. Helice Bridges
Author and International Speaker


Ms. Bridges, a renowned international speaker, corporate trainer and best-selling author, is the creator of the original “Who I Am Makes A Difference.” She is here to help us create a blue ribbon wave of recognition, a wave that we can ride throughout the year!


Evidently, it didn’t take.

One more thing. It is widely assumed that “self-esteem” is terribly important, that the lack of it causes many of the problems we see in young people, and that the possession of high self-esteem is the key to success and health. But in fact, as respected mathematical psychologist Robyn Dawes (Carnegie Mellon U) has often noted, there simply is no evidence for such claims:

Surveys published in the 1990s have shown that self-esteem is unrelated to socially desirable or undesirable behavior. Some people behave very badly and have high self-esteem (which may create a problem if that esteem is challenged)….Other people feel very good about themselves and behave well; they are not narcissists. On the other side, low self-esteem in no way guarantees undesirable behavior; in fact, if undesirable behavior leads to low self-esteem, then the person feeling bad about himself or herself may seek out help to control or eliminate the undesirable behavior, and hence feel bad but simultaneously start to engage in socially desirable behavior. --From Everyday Irrationality, (Dawes, 2001)

--CW

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...