Thoughts on Individual Responsibility

Re-inspecting your own belief system and culture and delving into another's culture outside of one's own.

I recently read the New York Times Article, "An Expert on Chinese Medicine, but No New Age Healer" and am in awe of this German doctors interest, depth and relentless academic pursuit of understanding another culture.

In China, Dr. Unschuld said, “Medicine and politics are similar: You don’t blame others, you blame yourself.” He added, “You ask: ‘What did I do wrong? What made me vulnerable? What can I do against it?’ This is why China has risen.”

Which made me think of Carol Dweck's Growth and Fixed Mindset's theory with the backdrop of the upcoming election.

wo ming zai wo, bu zai tian, my fate lies with me not with heaven. (translated by Dr. Unschuld)
Hillary Clinton has a growth mindset- Moving beyond barriers and stereotypes for achievement, she represents a growth mindset- She is responsible for her own actions based on learning/listening from others/is adaptable to the situation.

ren suan bu ru tian suan, heavenly plans stand above human plans. (translated by Dr. Unschuld)
Donald Trump has a fixed mindset- outside forces are the cause of his fate (fear of others outside of his own, talker/arrogant/pushing his own thoughts on others, not willing to understand, blames others, not adaptable)

And to throw in another odd ball connection, wo ming zai wo, bu zai tian, reminds me of the poem, Invictus, by William Earnest Henley:

Out of the night that covers me, 

      Black as the pit from pole to pole, 

I thank whatever gods may be 

      For my unconquerable soul. 

In the fell clutch of circumstance 

      I have not winced nor cried aloud. 

Under the bludgeonings of chance 

      My head is bloody, but unbowed. 

Beyond this place of wrath and tears 

      Looms but the Horror of the shade, 

And yet the menace of the years 

      Finds and shall find me unafraid. 

It matters not how strait the gate, 

      How charged with punishments the scroll, 

I am the master of my fate, 

      I am the captain of my soul.