The "everyone fend for themselves" trope of American in my opinion is only perceived this way due to a concerted effort by Libertarians and Conservatives to pus

The "everyone fend for themselves" trope of American in my opinion is only perceived this way due to a concerted effort by Libertarians and Conservatives to push this thinking, and during periods where those views have power (such as now) it becomes even more engrained that this is "America" and further fuels efforts to remove those social nets and other social connectivity that was promoted and emphasized during periods of increased interconnectivity (ex. Obama - Public Service, Healthcare, Living Wages, Consumer Protection, Environment, Battery and Clean Energy foundations, Net neutrality, Auto-rescue, open government data, LGBTQ). As long as we remember and push against this false "fend for themselves", it need not become America.