Individualism is certainly NOT common sense . I would best call it 'Freedom.'

Quite the opposite, I am a proud socialist and a believer in collectiveism. America's biggest problem is this hyper-individualism. It blinds us to having empathy for others as well as to seeing our common interests, such as single payer health care for all and a guarrentied income. We need both of them ASAP, but individualism prevents voters from seeing the rational solutions to our problems. I don't see it going away in my lifetime, if ever, because it's only gotten worse during my adult life, beginning with the Reagan presidency.

The older I get, the more I wish I had met a compatible Canadian woman when I was young, so I could have married and lived there with her. A Euro woman would have been even better. The US is more and more seeming like a hostile society where I don't belong, but I'm doomed to die here, probably while still alone. Even as a young adult, I quickly realized that, in the vast majority of people, birth location and family ties were destiny when it came to earnings and career success, and that educational and employment opportunities were the vehicles thru which that destiny was provided.

Also, as long as most Americans remain very materialistic and buy into consumerism, they will continue to support a competitive society and economy instead of collectiveism and cooperation, because they also seem to never lose their belief that someday they or their kids will get lucky and become rich, against the odds.

I'm so fortunate to have the parents i have and to have been born in the city I came from. I must attribute a massive amount of my own success to those two random factors.

Science. Don’t leave home without it.