Former US president Barack Obama says he remains hopeful America can solve its political divisiveness, but recently issued a stark warning that the country's economy and democracy is at risk if people keep picking sides. At a tech conference in Las Vegas hosted by identity security company Okta, Obama added that technology from mobile phones to social networks is helping tear us apart, rather than bring us together. He then said, "We live in a culture today where everybody feels the crush of information and the collision of worlds.