Throughout human history, collectivism has been the dominant force. Back in the hunter-gatherer tribal days, safety was in the group. The tribe had its “intellectuals”—elders, witch doctors, shamans, druids, and medicine men—who tried to make sense of a life that was poor, nasty, brutish, and short. The tribal chief was almost always a competent hunter or warrior who could organize both hunts and the defense against wild animals and other tribes. Individuals subordinated themselves to the tribe, because life on the outside meant certain death.
As humanity developed agriculture and settled down, forming villages, towns, and cities that organized into provinces, countries, and empires, the tribal ways stayed with us. As cultures evolved, tribal elders, witch doctors, medicine men, shamans, and druids became rabbis, priests, and mullahs. And to organize and defend the geographical area, tribal chiefs became local lords, kings, and emperors. The threats were variations on the same “life is poor, nasty, brutish, and short” theme from back in the hunter-gatherer days. Disease, injury, and war were constant companions, and few questioned the supremacy of the collective, of the now-larger tribe, over the individual.
Think Right or Wrong, Not Left or Right 