Everytime I here individualism brought up by someone from Hexbear or Lemmygrad, it gets talked about as if it's categorically bad and wrong. Why is that?
This goes against everything I've learned in the states, where we consider individualism a necessary part of being a responsible and moral person, whereas collectivism strips us of our humanity and turns us into subhuman insectoid creatures incapable of thought.
"Individualism" is one of the cursed internet words which will have a different meaning for every person who uses it. Discussions about it tell you more about the community having the discussion than anything about the word. And it can cause arguments when interpretations differ within a single discussion.
The contrast you see between opinions about the word is just a reflection of the general contrast between liberals and leftists.
This didn’t suddenly just appear now, it’s fundamental to liberalism, which is the ideology of capitalism.
I'm not saying it's new. "Cursed internet word" was a possibly stupid way to say its use, on the internet, often causes problems, like arguments.