Exactly. Tyranny of the majority would absolutely drown out the individualism. And was definitely the case as demonstrated by Hugh’s storyline. Once separated from the collective, individualism returned. If anything, that would have made a much stronger narrative motivation for the federation: these are people, individuals that need to be extracted from the mass of madness; not destroyed. Would have also made better western propaganda if viewed from the lens of liberal democracy vs. communism. Sending Hugh back into that hell definitely would have killed the individual that came to be without hope that his experiences would make any impact. It isn’t like the Borg were unaccustomed to absorbing individualism because, uh, yeah, they literally did that all the time when assimilating new people. Fuckin’ Piller definitely wasn’t big brained enough to think all of this through, obviously.