The cat who knows that he'll be punished will never touch the fish. That's the rule he has to respect to not lose the attention of his owner. To not lose what he's already getting. In case he tries to break the rule and get closer to the fish, he may lose a part of his food or lose everything at all.
The same about a citizen. No matter how this person thinks he/she is free, the law will be respected in the end. It will be hard to go against the system. Otherwise, that little freedom will be lost. Or the pocket may be hit by fines and other kinds of punishment!
Talking about kids, we see the same. Their parents are those who are policing them. They may allow some things and prohibit others. So the kid may be educated in a manner parents see correct. They may even pass their principles and philosophy. So, as people didn't have the choice where to be born, they may not have the choice to change who they are.
The same about members of a platform they didn't create, and they don't lead. There are always rules that should be respected. Sometimes there are ethics set by the community. So, not only guidelines from the founders should be respected in this case, but each rule of a group joined or dealt with. Otherwise, the account will be blocked or restricted from joining the group where the rules were broken.
As for the blockchain and how we act on it, it's a bit different. Some actions in centralized social media may be hidden or deleted. But here, no matter what we do, everything will be saved. So, we have to think twice before doing anything we want. I know people finding proofs of creators contradicting themselves after years. Some of their citations are just remembered and when I see them writing the opposite, I'm shocked. People here are so interesting.
But anyway, we have the main platform and that's the blockchain. There are rules we can apply to all of it, like to not spam and create an original content. Then each community and application may set internal rules and that should be respected as well. In fact, it's that easy ! Why do we have to fight and be stubborn. We don't have the right to tell a leader what to do. In case we didn't like something, we can create a community and do things our way !
Being almost 4 years on the blockchain, I didn't get tired of learning and changing my behavior. I think the change is improving me and my communication skills. That's how this blockchain is teaching us !
The best quote I can write now is that people are not trees. We don't grow in one place, and we have so many opportunities to move on !
There are always restrictions at every level of life which we consciously and mostly unconsciously follow. That's what keeps our behaviour at check. In the end we're only human afterall.