I would say ethno cultural debasement of the people certainly played a center role, from a wasp ultra majority to socialist tinted multiculti brown stuff Now, if you say "individualism", as in every man for himself... I'm not sure that's what america ever was grounded in WASP White Anglo Saxon Protestant You have protestant in there, implying that, sure every man is responsible for his own actions, and also, every man has a duty (toward god) to maximize his potential... That's not exactly some secular "me me me and myself" type of individualism, there's (was) a strong collective sense of personal responsibility (toward the rest of the community, incentive for not being a burden). You need a strong sense of the collective there https://www.careerstep.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/oregon-trail-4.jpg