If you see it in a non-philosophical way, I’d say you can never be totally free as a person, but obey to certain rules. This is not necessarily a bad thing because rules set boundaries. That being said, I think –in a more spiritual way- you can be free. We are occupied with thoughts, which are a great tool to help you function in this world, but it can also become a burden when your thoughts are taking over. More and more people can’t fall asleep because of their thoughts controlling them –and therefore they are far from being free. I think that’s the most important [facet] of freedom; even if you are locked away in a prison and all your freedom has been taken away from you, you can still find a new way of freedom, freedom of the mind. That’s what monks and the Buddhists try to achieve, the nirvana. There, there’s a lot of knowledge to gain –maybe gain is not the right word for humanity, to really find out who we truly are. Only when you reach that point, and it’s the highest you can achieve here on Earth, you can be truly free of thoughts.