>Is that freedom for you?

No, at least it's not totally freedom. We know this (again, Thomas Hobbes, the social contract). I hear you about all the licenses. A co-worker of mine had to get a permit to paint his front door a different color! That was an HOA thing, but still, same thing.

Freedom is a spectrum from totally free (anarchy) to total slavery. Personally, I believe sliding completely too far either way is not ideal. In my view, the optimum is to be as close to the anarchy side so as to not have roving bands stalking around and doing havoc. If I had to live in that fear, that's not exactly free either. That's being bound and controlled by fear.

I would argue that people who say "I'm 100% free," are kind of enjoying both sides of the coin. On one side, they do their thing freely. On the other side, they're likely living in a place that has a government and law and order, at least to some degree. I doubt the society is true anarchy. They are likely "under the radar" and not considered enough of a nuisance. If it was true anarchy, the "neighbors" might not be too friendly. If the person became a nuisance, the powers might come knocking on the door.

I know it would be easy to say, "I don't fear them, I can take care of myself, I still wont obey," and maybe that's true. But then, again, if they overpower you with bigger numbers and guns, then you have in fact "obeyed," just involuntarily. A man in jail may tell himself, "I do not recognize your laws and authority to hold me, I'm free." And yet, he's still in jail.