Defining both types of collectivism
In this short breakdown, i will explain that there are two fundamentally different kinds of collectivism.
Definitions
First of all, let's define what people call "collectivism". At the very core, it is multiple individuals that work or fight not for the individual itself, but for the collective. In nature, we see this for example with ants or bees. They way of life for a worker ant/bee is not influenced by its own survival as much as the survival of the collective. Bees do not produce honey to eat it, it is for the larva that grow in the honeycombs. Ants do not just consume all the food they gather, they drag it into the hive, where it is distributed. The individuals within a collective know that they will not survive without the collective. They have no choice but to comply.
The opposite to collectivism is individualism. Here, the individual is almost entirely concerned with its own survival. Humans themselves are prime examples: Some of them will sometimes go to every length to protect themselves and gather wealth, power, etc, while having almost no concern for others, but all of us have the genetic drive to do so. It is only thanks to the concept of society that we stopped living like a pack of animals, with an alpha at the top and betas around.
In general, the more intelligent a species and the fewer of them there are, the more individualism is in their way of life. This is due to the reproduction mechanic: In a hive, only the queen can effectively reproduce, only the queen is truly important. The rest are expendable, replaceable workers. However, if every member of a species can reproduce, there's the drive for all to do so. I could go on about natural selection and write my fingers off, but for the purpose of collectivism and individualism, let's just keep the focus on important matters.
One more realization is important: Rigorous individualism is rampant egomania. As long as one's interests do not clash with others, it works, but they inevitably will, and then to further the own survival and reproduction, the others have to be pushed aside anyway possible. This is when individuals fight for superiority, when lions fight to be the alpha, or people fight for (let's be honest) pretty much everything these days.
Collectivism and individualism are not black and white, there infinite shades of gray between them. In the end, collectivism means that every being works for the good of the collective, and individualism means that every being works for its own good. And the reality is anything in between.
Forced Collectivism
When i say "Forced Collectivism" in the context of human society i mean the kind of collectivism most people think of when the world is used. This means that there is a ruling elite, and others are worker drones. It has been the most basic form of society from the start: There was a tribe with a leader who commands the rest of the tribe. As the amount of people got bigger, it transformed into kingdoms, and finally dictatorships.
Modern collectivism is tightly connected to socialism, and in the end, it is (rightfully) considered an outdated and unjust system. However, in the past it was the only stable form of society and people accepted it as the alternative was pure anarchy, a state that (with humans) switches to forced collectivism within very short time. All it takes is for one individual to gain enough power to enforce its domain, rules and control.
Every hierarchical society is in a way forced collectivism. Of cause there are differences based on the power difference between the leader and his subordinates. Democracy itself has attributes of forced collectivism, but much, much closer to individualism than anything before. So much that with all right, we can describe a functioning democracy as individualism. There is an elite, but the average individual holds power over them. In theory, every individual has the ability to become a member of the elite. As such, a good democracy is the best system humans have conceived to date that actually works in reality, despite all its problems. While there are better, Utopian philosophies and systems, they do not work with us right now.
Voluntary Collectivism
This form of collectivism is what happens when a larger group of individualists transcends the individualism. Sounds complex, but it's quite simple: Individuals are realizing that they want their peers to be supported. For humans, this means that people are working for the "greater good", even if it is at the expense of the wealth, freedom or other factors the person wishes to have. Being involved with a charity is a form of voluntary collectivism: You give your money or time in order to help others.
A society that would be based on this concept, the fact that the vast majority of individuals understands that their peers are important as well is what transcends the rigorous individualism and could elevate humanity to Utopian standards, however it is currently impossible for us as a species right now, and i cannot think of any example in the animal world where this happens. The egomania we all have by our very nature does not allow us to build a working society based on voluntary collectivism.
The important thing to realize is that, while voluntary collectivism is a form of collectivism in general, it is as far from forced collectivism as possible. As stated before, in forced collectivism the individuals have no way of surviving without the collective. In voluntary collectivism, they (in most cases) are not immediately concerned with their survival, instead they are concerned with the survival of others out of compassion. Then there are those who have made voluntary collectivism their life: Those who would willingly give it all, their wealth, freedom and very life for others. This is, from all states of mind i can imagine, the greatest there is.
Conclusions
The state of human civilization has changed over history many times. To be honest, i cannot say where society as a whole is. Different types of societies occupy the entire spectrum of collectivism. There are those who are full force collectivism, especially in North Korea and Venezuela. There are those who have extreme levels of voluntary collectivism all across the western world, in fact so much that their nations are being turned into forced collectivism nations because the citizens are too passive and think of all of their peers as good people too, while some of them are the direct opposite.
The reason why utopia just doesn't work with humans is that advanced societies lose their will to fight. They get used to take care of others and being taken care of so much, they forget that the basic human instinct is rigorous individualism. In fact, forced collectivism is an effect of the rigorous individualism: One ends up at the very top, dominating others. While animals sometimes (genetically) have no chance of becoming the hive queen, with humans it in fact is this very thing.
Imagine a clean slate of unrelated individualists: The very moment two or more of them have colliding interests, there will be a fight for dominance. And the one who ends up dominating everyone else becomes the hive king or queen. This is why human societies in the past could only function this way. Of cause there where better and worse forms, but at their core, all societies where based on this form of leadership. The moment the leadership was overturned, someone else filled the power vacuum. Anarchy with humans instantly turns into tyranny. This is the nature of our being if left unchecked.
Voluntary collectivism is what happens when people overcome their bad properties and instead follow a new concept: Mutual benefit not on the basis of mere survival, but progression. Why waste resources fighting an enemy if you can coexist and use those resources to advance together.
Ultimately, i hope that humanity as a whole can go to the next level. But for now, every one of us will have to be the very best voluntary collectivist he or she can. Part of it is the fight against those who attack the collective and try to transform it either into a rigorous individualism (anarchy) or a forced collectivism (dictatorship).