Yes, they are. This is what being a developer means in this context: that you are a servant. A slave, if you prefer that terminology. One who obeys. An inferior. A steward. Nobody, politically speaking. I'm running out of alternative ways to put this, but I would hope you get the idea.
I think you get that wrong. Being a developer in no way implies that you are a serve.
Lead developers in open-source projects get titles such as benevolent dictator.
In the case of bitcoin, the lead developer gets payed by the foundation and the foundation has a bunch of important stakeholders in it. The foundation together has probably the political power to do anything with bitcoin that it likes whether or not you approve.
I agree with those who push for a formal specification for the protocol instead of letting the reference implementation be the protocol. It is hard work, but the way to go IMO.
Are you willing to pay for that hard work to be done?