[yibg]

I know in the US we value individualism responsibility. But the reality is many things are encouraged / discouraged, made easier / harder collectively.

Of course if you never go out of your house, you're not going to have many social interactions. But your environment and the culture you live in makes a difference too. You can quit smoking yourself clearly, but the collective push to discourage smoking has done a lot to reduce the overall use of cigarettes.