Hey, r9, a question or two, just for my own curiosity.
Consider it to have nothing to do with the thread:
1) Do you believe that people are “basically good”?
2) Do you believe that some people are so much more moral and intelligent that they should be making the decisions for those who are less intelligent?
Just doing some research, not picking a fight.
Aside from our all being fallen, I think that most people generally want to do the right thing most of the time, even if they tend to fail now and again. We're not so much "basically good," as we have a "basically good will."
2) Do you believe that some people are so much more moral and intelligent that they should be making the decisions for those who are less intelligent?
That's too broad a question to answer definitively. In some cases -- military strategy, for example -- some people may in fact be more capable and better informed, and as such are in a better position to make decisions for others. In many cases, individuals of whatever intelligence level are far-better placed to make their own decisions on a variety of matters -- economic choices being a particularly significant example. And sometimes there's a middle ground, which falls in the broad category of "regulation," where individual choices have to be balanced against the needs of society at large; pollution regulations are a pretty good example of that.
Just doing some research, not picking a fight.
Well, now, you'll pardon my suspicion that your "research" is about getting ready to pick a fight based on your presumption that I must be an elitist liberal or something.
Sorry, I'm not.