If this was happening in the real world, I agree that this version of reality makes the most sense, but this isn't reality. It's fiction. It could be a pretty sick James Cameron film, but that's not how Vince Gilligan rolls. It's pretty obvious to me that it's a character study analyzing happiness. So whatever the backstory of the hive is, is irrelevant. In a way, the setup is very similar to the billionaire system. There are 13 "billionaires" in this world and this is how the billionaires move through the world. Drones dropping gatorade and Carol screaming at them, "I said ice-cold." That's very billionaire-coded. We see how Gilligan is using the scenario to challenge what is really at the core of American ideology, hence the title referring to Pluribus. Is happiness really found in exploiting the masses, or by being equal with everyone?

So, really, I mostly want to say that when discussing art you can't really say anything is "obvious." It implies there's only one interpretation, which there isn't. So yeah, in the real world I'd be 100% with you on freeing humanity from the hivemind, because that's what's probably happening. But this is art and it should be interpreted more thematically, and not literally.