Collectivism has such a bad rap in the west that we immediately associate it with group think which is an unbalanced and destructive form of collectivism.

I really wanted to jump in here. Collectivism is the yin to Inidivudalisms yang. The problem we have with collectivism is that society is top down and so it becomes a tool for control. If we have more decentralized culture that had collectivist tendencies (a tendency towards harmony and agreement with others) but with strong individualism where people can question the collective (sometimes just for the sake of questioning in order to avoid falling into traps), collectivism would solve most of our problems. Collectivism is a positive force when balanced with individualism, but without each other both collectivism and individualism tend to be rather destructive albeit in very different ways.

EDIT: Still listening, Glad you guys finally got to this. I'm surprised at how averse you are to collectivism @clayboyn because of your spiritual beliefs (or truths or whatever), but it really depends on your definition of the word. Collectives are not anti-individual by nature, it's just the kind of collectives we are used to because we live in a society which is still functioning in lack-based thinking, where everyone is hungry for power. Obviously not every collective functions this way, but there are always people who push them in this direction.

Let me know if you want me on soon