One does not necessarily follow to the other. There was a time where common sense existed along with an individualist perspective.

Is it any wonder that a society that prides itself on "questioning authority"

It is the authorities here who have promoted such nonsense. From their media to fake education system, the psychobabble that passes as science as they experiment new drugs on their human cattle. Many men aren't for this nonsense. It wasn't until women's suffrage that the nation turned towards feelings and pseudosciences, as they tend to view situations from the heart instead of mind. You can view the downward shift in society from personal responsibility to denying biology and human nature directly to the appeal to feelings. The masters of the cattle (authorities) are very perceptive in their methods of manipulation.