Yes, I think reputation helps alot for small societies to avoid having too many laws. Unfortunately, there is no way in real life to see the reputation of a stranger, it only works in groups that are small enough for everyone to know each other already (and that has it's own problems!). But even on Steemit, the reputation is only a measure of interaction with other accounts, it isn't a measure of how "noble" someone is. Indeed, for a relatively small investment, it is possible to boost your REP to 50 (or maybe above to 60), so the REP on Steemit is a bit misleading....
No, I wouldn't fine myself (I'm not that altruistic!), but I would expect to have the consequence if I was found and noticed.