That's a very simplistic view of a very complicated history of political theories.

Anarchism, a doctrine that explicitly negates the State, is rooted squarely in the leftist camp as classically intended, and gives individuals freedom from being coerced in any collective action whatsoever.

You also have Libertarian Socialism, probably the most romantic of all leftist ideologies, which tries to bring collectivist and individualist theories together.

And then of course, the very source of the meaning of "left": the French Revolution, with its rights trifecta of freedom, fraternity and equality, which was born in complete opposition to the notion of the superiority of the State over individuals.

Saying "left-wing ideology has always placed the interest of the collective, represented by the state, over the interest of the individual" is like saying "right-wing ideology has always placed the interest of the rich, represented by the individual, to screw the poor, over the interest of society to improve as a whole" -- a simplistic mystification.

Don't forget Marxism, with the goal of "the withering away of the state."

Depends on what you mean by "left". The Democrats are called left in the US, but clearly right-wing by much of the world's standards. It's a business party. If you mean leftists like the anarchist-influenced Occupy movement (like David Graeber [1] who popularized "We are the 99%"), well obviously there's many anti-statist leftists. (No one's going to accuse anarchists of being pro-state.)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Graeber

Not always, but as it is practiced today in the United States, most certainly.