America has never been collectivist. American have gotten together to do some incredible stuff, but it has always been conditional on things like money or getting bombed by Japan. On the other hand, since individuals can go their own way we are leaders in innovation. We have almost 3 times as many Nobel Prizes as the next closest country, the UK. Yes, governing Americans is like herding cats, or a better analogy might be herding animals of different species together because most Americans take their personal freedom very seriously. Anyone who tries to change that will do so at their mortal peril, like I said.