Very interesting thread.
So many conflicting interests in the world in general, plus the sense that we live in a time of engineered illusion in every area means we're struggling with cognitive dissonance both on a philosophical and practical level.
The only thing that most people are focused on is money. Without money, there is no power and little choice for the average person. The means to acquire the amount of money to cover basic necessities is being ever more tightly controlled, and increases inequality. The most basic bit of individualism is simply trying to survive on an economic level. On the one hand this depends on collectivism, but because of the underlying ideologies of who should be the "haves" and "have nots" we're floundering in terms of ethics and morals.
Is individualism the same as personal responsibility and the much vaunted demands for resilience? In which case collectivism is difficult to achieve.
Much of historical collectivism has been based on belief. People behaved "because God" or fear of punitive consequence from brutality regimes. There may have been good outcomes for communities that toed the line but outliers disagreeing with negative consequences were soon put in their place or simply eliminated.
Freedom of thought is fundamental but ironically these days we are hamstrung by the "thought police" more than ever, and investigation into why always leads back to whoever controls the purse strings, and by extension the mechanisms of power.
Individualism suits TPTB as it helps keep us atomised and under control. Getting collectives together to address issues affecting community depends on people being willing and available to gather and discuss solutions, yet due to work commitments, caring responsibilities etc etc, people can barely even organise leisure time with people they want to relax with never mind take on bigger external issues.
Even when there is common ground in fighting around individual differences of opinion dilutes the potential power of the collective because one group has blue hair, and another group thinks that those with tattoos are morally deficient and another group thinks that old people are the reason everything is wrong and so it goes on and on. (I've been on committees. It's a particular circle of hell).
Often collectivism is shot down by cries of "naive idealism" because even simple solutions to problems are mired in bureaucracy that makes action costly in terms of time and money.
I tried to volunteer at a local homeless charity when I had my own shop in an area where I could see clearly the problems caused by the issue. I went to their offices and asked how I'd go about it. The woman behind the desk rolled her eyes, huffed, shoved a leaflet at me, told me to go to their website, submit a form, they'd decide if I was suitable, and she then dismissed me. My collectivism bone shrank somewhat.
So, I'm out of the game now. An individual focused on survival, keeping my head down and relegated to the status of observer. Not just because of the charity incident, but because of many adjacent experiences where it appears that the collective is a bit of a myth these days.
Sad, but there it is.