I agree and disagree with you at the same time. I think we are overly using labels as defensive weapons, but labels are not meant to be an excuse, they are supposed to help people understand that their situation can be managed to the point of having a satisfying life. I think the problems comes when people identify with a label as if the label was a part of their personality and not just a name to briefly describe a number of characteristics.
The idea of someone telling you they are diabetic is not for you to see how special they are. But they would probably appreciate if you avoid offering them sweets all the time. Or if you give them a heads up when there is not going to be food that they can eat. If a particular diabetic makes a fuzz about them being diabetic is not a matter of labels.
You wrote you "have gone from a unified people willing to sacrifice for the good of the whole, to every man for themselves." I understand were this statement comes from, there was an improvement and you don't see it coming anymore. But that improvement you see is built on a country that thought only about itself, that improved because it had others to step over. So, actually, it was already a matter of every country for themselves. And it worked, not only for the US but for many western countries too. The pity is that globalization and climate change turned us all very much dependent on each other, and we can no longer ignore the consequences of our unchecked progress.
I want to seed hope on you telling you that the youth is already moving towards change. It's coming in different shapes that before, but young change is on its way. Gen Z is a generation that wants to be billionaires and influencers, but it is also a generation
that drinks less alcohol than previous, is more aware of their emotions and act out their inner turmoil.
Humanity has all the tools to fix all our problems. We have the technology and the knowledge, we have enough brains to research even further. The only problem is that we got used to compete and fight each other loosing (perhaps we never had it) our ability to communicate. We rarely envision a portion of society without strong hierarchy, because that wouldn't be efficient: "We need quick and fast decisions to, again, compete against the market, the opposite political party or our workmate." Most people agrees that we need to shift toward sustainable decisions, and those are not taking or achieved under the traditional dynamics.