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Fair enough--so then, which successful nation has existed that prioritizes the individual over the nation's laws in any capacity?

Which successful nation has eschewed the idea of the greater good?

(And to your point--this absolutely has been perverted in various cases to justify atrocious behavior! It is necessary but not sufficient in order to govern well and righteously and be a successful country.)

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It's not necessarily a binary choice, is it? There's a spectrum between true democracy that isn't simply "rule of majority", and authoritarianism.

There is a weakness in democracies too, that if they are too tolerant and allow too much freedom, this can paradoxically undermine democracy itself and lead to a collapse.

So in general, western democracies tend to respect human rights, sacrificing the greater good, because this in itself is considered a greater good.

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