The question, Chopra says, should be, “Can we find a creative solution?”

Question: What should be the big issues of the 2008 US election?

Deepak Chopra: I think the big issues of the next [US] presidential election is to think totally out of the box. Instead of saying, “Can we win the war in Iraq?” the question should be, “Can we find a creative solution?” which exposes our vulnerability, but at the same time requests the help of the international community, including the Iraqis or people in the Islamic world.

We have to really think of creative solutions for all the problems. Instead of using words like “war on terrorism, war on drugs, war on AIDS, war on poverty,” let’s understand that creativity is the solution, and that we have to get out of our extreme nationalism as well. Unfortunately, people don’t realize, but nationalism is a very dangerous impulse. Einstein said that nationalism is an infantile disease. It’s the measles of humanity. Nationalism is a sophisticated form of tribalism. Eric Fromm, a great psychologist, said nationalism is our form of incest. It’s our idolatry, and patriotism is a cult.

I think somebody has to be brave enough, risky enough to tell the truth and not worry about whether they will get the vote or not. If they’re authentic, they’ll get the vote.

Recorded on: Aug 17, 2007