Former Sen. Bill Bradley told fleet-management professionals Sunday in Salt Lake City that politics as usual isn't working and that "there's so much more that brings us together than things that divide us."

The NBA Hall of Famer and one-time presidential contender identified globalization, education and oil consumption as the three most significant factors affecting the probability of success for individuals, businesses and the nation, while criticizing the rift created by U.S. partisan politics.

"I believe we've been in the grip of an old story," Bradley said in his address at the Salt Palace Convention Center. "Not the original American story, but an old story that is essentially a 'can't do' story ... as in we can't make sure every public school in America is world-class, we can't assure that everybody in America has access to health care, we can't break our addiction to oil ... and on and on."

Bradley said a better policy would be to abandon the party-specific viewpoints on how to make improvements and begin a dialogue based on a novel new concept.

"The new story would be tell the truth and put country ahead of party," Bradley said. "There's so much more that brings us together than things that divide us."

Bradley said a globalized economy is the reality, and American industries and individuals need to look to other countries for insight on necessary changes. Even Summer Olympics host China, which is receiving a high level of attention and criticism, holds valuable lessons for Americans.

"We consume 72 percent of our GDP ... and save less than 1 percent," Bradley said. "The Chinese consume 38 percent of their GDP and save 35 percent."

Bradley said he believes the inability of Americans to keep money in the bank for lean times "may be the number one problem in America."

Bradley stressed improving public education in the U.S. as being of vital importance and identified American classrooms as the place where the future financial prosperity of the nation will be incubated.

"If you want to know where the economic security of America is going to be determined in the next 30-40 years, it is in the classrooms of public schools in America today," Bradley said. "It's not anywhere else."

Bradley characterized America's dependency on oil as an "addiction" and said a global view can, again, provide clues for how to achieve greater energy independence.

"If we had the same mile-per-gallon requirements in our automobiles today as Europe has today, we would consume 5 million less barrels of oil a day," Bradley said.

The savings that could be accrued by higher efficiency standards, Bradley said, represents roughly the amount of oil the U.S. purchases from OPEC producers on a daily basis.