Hi @dullhawk
Your sentence below captured my interest because i do not understand why you would make such an assertion.

''puts you into the category of people who are choosing to join a collective which is-- by definition-- made of the worst people out there''

So you get a picture of my confusion:
What comes to mind when i see the word 'collective' is something like a work owned collaborative. I looked at a group of brewers who formed such an enterprise and it seemed to serve them all very well.