No, young kids are sociopaths. they do not yet have well developed faculties of empathy. They will kick you in the head one second and ask for a sandwich the next.
As long as this example is taken figuratively, I think it makes a better case for “yes” for many/most people.
I pretty regularly see people shit on others and then expect favors —especially in work contexts, but also in social contexts.
Adults, having the advantage of decades to cultivate our twisted bonsai tree neuroses, can be literally impossible.
They have to have that innate child’s sense of fairness trained out of them. The notion that “what the market will bear” is fair rather than (often) screwing people over is something that has to be taught, more often than not, from what I’ve observed.
Regardless on terms, the thought for them was that they were unable to learn empathy. That does not mean that others get it automatically. You only need to look at how we treat animals to see examples of learning empathy.
I think many (probably most) adults miss the life experiences needed to really grow up, become self aware, open approach to learn, etc.
One of my inlaws, for instance, sees no issue in themselves using a bathroom inappropriate for their gender, and also in having trans people imprisoned for doing the same.
Many people feel that rules do not bind them, but are a great weapon for beating other people with. It's a core pillar of their political philosophy.
For example, a few years ago, one of my nieces, when she was four, got a bunch of candy for some reason, and desperately tried to give everyone a few pieces. She wasn't asked to share, she just decided that she'd give everyone a bit of candy, and as far as I can tell it was purely just to be nice.
That said, kids are often sociopaths, I was definitely a little shit when I was a kid.
So, it's different. It would probably be more correct to say children are more akin to mentally retarded adults than sociopaths.