Good question, SD. But the whole 'individualistic' culture you refer to is more prevalent in some cultures than others. Here in Asia, privacy is defined less as individual privacy but as family privacy or village privacy. Hence, its very important to 'save face.'
Moreover, the whole current European/Western idea of individualism is driven by economics and technology. Prior to the automobile and mass production, people were relatively stuck in towns where they could grow social roots. The whole town was your extended family. With the advent of automobiles, the nuclear family became the standard instead of the extended family.
There may be a backlash and the pendulum may swing backwards but it would have to be pushed by economic and technological forces.
