Quote from ARogueTrader:
Governments don't commit attrocities, people do. The individuals in the government are the actors, not the entity of government.
The attrocities you refer to are the result of individuals who act in their own best interest and not in the interest of the collective.
The leaders may speak of the good of the collective, but they act only to enhance their own individuality at the expense of others, this has been the history of mankind. It is not the failure of the system of government or the nature of a societal structure, but rather it is the failure of the components of the system, namely the individuals who become corrupt through the acquisition of power or abuse the power that they do have.
If you have ever been in an adult and healthy relationship where there was intimacy and functional mutual dependency of any type, you know that the process is one of compromise, negotiation, and balance between the needs of each individual and the needs to maintain the structure of a couple that serve the needs of the individuals.
A fully black and white vision of pure collectivism or pure individualism is the hallmark of a fanatic.
It is not us and them, it is after all we.