You are absolutely correct there... Both on the respect and the utopia parts.
Unfortunately, you'll need a police force to keep any people from throwing themselves into anarchy, and this forum is no different from the rest of the world. It's politics 101. As soon as there are rules, you must make sure those rules are followed. The only way to do that is with a police force. And the larger the group of people it is, the more fights there will be. If the current mods are willing and able to moderate all the posts if needed, then there need not be more mods...
People will just never learn to tolerate eachother unless they're forced to. Human nature.