Collectivism and conformity is not the same.

Individualism is just a polite word for selfishness and a lack of empathy, and it's at the root of many of America's cultural and political problems. We're supposed to be a nation, not 300 million cowboys suffering the indignity of one another's trespass. We can't even fix our basic infrastructure because no one wants to spend their taxes on anything that benefits anyone but themselves. We can't have decent healthcare because it would be "socialist." But we'll shoot each other in the streets because nothing projects individual power more than a loaded gun.