The concept of individualism goes back to Aristotle. It promotes exercising one's goal while opposing external interference upon one's own interests by society or institutions such as the government. Individualism is all about the individual. It values independence and self-reliance. It promotes investment of time and money on the individual.
In Wikipedia it says:
Individualism makes the individual its focus and so starts "with the fundamental premise that the human individual is of primary importance in the struggle for liberation."
Liberation first starts with the individual. What the individual wants. The expression of liberty is about each individual and how he/she wants to express its freedom. As we know even nowadays we are not completely free. We have a lot of restrictions. So for the system, everyone who is an individualist is an enemy. By simply existing and expressing his freedom which sometimes may break the current law.
Individualism is the key to having a functioning society. So individualists are against the restrictions of society and the government in general because the current society and government are corrupt. For society to be functioning people need to know what they want. Individualism helps us to achieve that knowledge. First of all, everyone should invest in themselves so they can in the future benefit the society with their part that they are best in. Sooner you get this knowledge the better. The education system should help us be in the first place an individualist before we know where we should continue.
We know that the education system does not do that. Then the things get tricky. When a person is thrown into the society without some knowledge of self they will be modelled by that society's norms. You will be modelled by money, by trending jobs and many more factors.
Currently, that is happening. When an individualist appears, the society calls him strange and crazy because he does not fit in the norm that has been set. That is what the elite wants. A corrupted society where if you don't conform you will be rejected. You will be the lonely soul searching for other individualists who are lost like you.
Nowadays, people are modelled from the outside to the inside. Where it should be the opposite. You should know what you want from within and then you will invest in it so you can influence the world around you.
You want freedom but you do not accept the uniqueness of it. That is insane. By default, you should expect strange people in a free world. The definition of freedom is that you can do and be whatever you want to be. That means that strange people will occur always. Currently, we are not free simply because of the fact that we don't accept uniqueness. Because it is not trendy or something else.
As everything, too much individualism is not good. Simply because society needs you. Even if it is corrupt. Actually, it needs you more when it is corrupt. You should not be an egomaniac, there should be a balance.
A perfect balance in life is what we most need, but it is simply impossible. Thank you for reading. God Bless.