Rosseau, Moses, and the Declaration of Independence

In class today we learned about Jean-Jacques Rosseau, a Swiss born French philosopher who directly inspired the French Revolution. Rosseau's beliefs were revolutionary, because he rejected objectivity and believed in the individuality of man. I've got to say that I have agreed with just about everything he has said and I've been thinking about him all morning.
While reading my scriptures I came across this scripture in Moses 7:18: "And the Lord called His people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them." I think that Rosseau would seriously love this scripture. I couldn't believe how similar it was to what I just learned about. Rosseau believed that compassion was the natural response to human suffering, and that if we weren't told to do otherwise, we would all share what we had with those who didn't have it, eliminating poverty. He also believed that we as people are naturally good. Finally, he believed in a General Will, which seemed to me like when a bunch of people come together, they will naturally be able to come up with a common opinion, or being of "one heart and one mind." So I think that Rosseau would be agree that Zion would indeed have people dwelling in righteousness, coming to agreements, and having no poor among them.
Rosseau's ideas really excite me. Imagine if we all lived by the idea that human beings were naturally good! As it is, I think that we are expected to believe the worst in people, and then be surprised if they are honest or kind. Wouldn't it be great if we were shocked when people lied or stole, and honestly believed that people were inncoent until proven guilty? Isn't it amazing to think that each of the more than six billion people living on earth right now are all individuals? Thinking about the rights declared in our Declaration of Independence, that everyone has the right to "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness," it is obvious that Rosseau still has influence today. Anyway, those are some of my thoughts on Humanities class this week, hopefully I was able to tie it together the way I wanted to.