Warmth of the collective can suffocate

In his inaugural speech, Mayor Mamdani prophesied, "We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism." I criticized earlier his straw man (false) version of individualism, which came from socialists, not capitalists. Today I want to ask if collectivism is always warm? 

F.A. Hayek, a Nobel Prize winner and the second greatest economist of the 20th century behind Ludwig von Mises, wrote in his last book, The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism, that we live in two worlds. One is the family, church, or tribe in which everyone knows everyone else, their needs, weaknesses and strengths. The other is the larger world of the nation in which few people know each other.

Mamdani: the frigidity of rugged individualism, the warmth of collectivism

After Mamdani was sworn into the office of mayor of New York City, he said in his speech, "And if for too long these communities have existed as distinct from one another, we will draw this city closer together. We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism."

The last was as beautiful propaganda line. It appeals to the emotions. Who wants to stay out in the cold when a warm fire is waiting inside? It evokes the novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John le Carré in which disillusioned British agent Alec Leamas "comes in from the cold" by exposing the brutal dishonesty of the espionage business. 

However, Mamdani exposes either his ignorance or dishonesty in calling individualism frigid. Based on his biography, I'm supposing ignorance. Here's why. There is nothing frigid about true individualism. Hayek explained the problem in his essay, "Individualism: True and False."