no, anonymity was never the goal. the main goal was to create a "decentralized" system that nobody can control so that they can not put their hands in your pocket and/or dictate how you use your own money. and that is how it gives you financial freedom.
I don't think a system like Bitcoin can be safe for users without good anonymity and privacy.
It's definitely built for anonymity if satoshi and early developers/contributors discussed or wanted anonymity ( I really doubt they didn't want anonymity).
Anonymity is a natural and common sense right. If you remove it from physical or virtual world, most innocent people could be totally enslaved/destroyed and both worlds will be dangerous place to be.
You could combine users unique identities with anonymity in a very cryptic way, so that when an anonymous user commits a dangerous crime he/she can be identified.
No one has the right to de-anonimize law abiding people without their consent.
The above is a basic human right as long as the anonymous person remains law abiding. The world is doomed if a technology/technologies to track every single person on the planet is available to evil person/people or intelligent things.