While this sentiment is nice, it's not really realistic to expect everyone to have an informed opinion on everything. So an authority is required in most subjects - what does need to be made more explicit is that what the authority says is but one interpretation, and that it's not the total sum of a given subject. Nevertheless, I think some level of gatekeeping is required, as with most things it's a balancing act between two extremes. Reducing your idealised point of view into a simple, basic structure just lacks nuance.
