Freedom and liberty are indeed difficult concepts to get a handle on. Most people, in my opinion, think it is something they want to do but the government won't let me so I am not free, even if it is a single issue that cramps their style. I've seen people that; say, want to legalize marijuana or prostitution and claim to be libertarians but as soon as some socialist party says they are going to run on that platform immediately shift support to that party. Some libertarians with a greater sense of the concept of freedom tend to stick to the idea of a limited government with a limited mandate; much closer to the people being able to hold government to account and maintain their freedom from tyranny.
Freedom though is actually something that the individual determines not government. The individual thinks that as long as he doesn't disagree with the laws of the land he has freedom but when he disagrees with the laws he has lost freedom. True freedom is in recognizing you have full choice over what you do and as long as you can determine what is in your best interests, which, by the way should include a consideration of the best interests of your family, that's easy, your neighbor, a little harder perhaps, your community, your fellow citizens, the environment, essentially, the ramifications of your actions on the world you are involved with. You don't, for instance, start forcing your sexual proclivities on another or society, others may find them unappealing. Freedom is understanding how to relate to the world around you and not create more of a sustainable contribution to it than damage. Some people may think walking around the streets nude is freedom. Actually, it is just polite to wear coverings in most interactions with others. Designated areas where you can walk around nude could be established if it is so desired. An individual should have the freedom to decide. That's all that freedom is about you deciding what is best all around. Education is about what we have learned is best all around to survive and live in a sustainable society and world. Politicians that have lost track of that make dual purpose laws that mix what is best or most free for the individual with extracting revenues. Speed limits are not lowered for safety's sake but to raise revenues. Taxation is to raise revenues but becomes a means to redistribute wealth and empower government and government then starts to become tyrannical about taxation. Any taxation should have some ties to the government's performance. If an economy is not doing well government's revenues should fall. Taxes are not an entitlement to government. They need to be voluntary for freedom from tyranny to prevail.
The 2nd amendment of the US constitution allows the individual to defend himself from threat of death.
The individual can kill another individual that is threatening his life. From the perspective of the individual he can kill anyone he wants but mostly decides it is unnecessary to do so. That's his freedom to decide. Any rational person would agree that a law allowing people total discretion to kill whomever is not in anyone's best interests. He realizes there are moments of anger or loss of self-control, due to drugs or for whatever reason, that can overwhelm the senses so he will agree with a law restricting his freedom to just act willy-nilly regarding taking the lives of others. Tyrannical socialist governments have in the past made laws deciding who should live and who should not. We are approaching that level of tyranny again. How could we make this error of selling our freedom over again? It happens when we are made dependent upon government. It provides for our welfare, healthcare, our education and respectively turns those things into systems of indolence, death and indoctrination. Giving responsibility for our lives to the extent we have to government is turning over our individual freedom.

Your second point about trying to herd cats is a statement of the existence of individuality and free thought, and that the collective is used as a means to overwhelm the dissent of individuals. The US Constitution contains those things that we, as individuals, should be able to all agree to in order to act collectively if necessary for the protection of our freedoms. Control of the economy, through redistribution policies or the currency supply, education, healthcare, welfare is not the job of government. It is up to the society to be creative regarding those things. Justice is impossible under socialism because it is determined by a central authority that concerns itself with its own interests and the individual has already been nullified. The break down is apparent in our current government, yours and mine.

@FrankZeleniuk Most people who I have asked, think freedom has no limits, whereas freedom can not exist without rules, boundaries and limitations. Otherwise it's chaos.

@ScottforKing True. Learning what is ethical and moral in order to understand right and wrong so you can be free to make your own rules and and limits is what freedom is about. One must be able to abandon his mores, ethics and concepts of right and wrong though - IF his life is unjustly threatened. It's a matter of self-defense. This is where justice enters in if there is a moral system established in the society.

@FrankZeleniuk If you are planning to live alone in the forest, then you can make up your own rules, boundaries and limits, otherwise you must adapt what is socially acceptable, morally and ethically.

@FrankZeleniuk Just found this one. Thought it might be relevant:
[blog.londolozi.com]

@ScottforKing It shows that animals can operate on an instinctual social level and I don't disagree with that. The indication that it is instinctual is in the fact they cannot change their social structure ideologically. It remains the same throughout their existence as a species. We form our societies, sometimes to our detriment, but it shows a greater participation of individual input and thus greater possibilities. Mostly, when individual input is crushed is when we get in trouble. Centrally controlled human societies are often called dictatorships or tyrants. Yes, there can be rogue elephants but they are generally excommunicated from the group. We would be better off if we did excommunicate our tyrants and dictators but we don't pick on individuals, and some gain enough support to come to leadership roles in a society.

Humans are more than just animals. I feel comparisons between us and animals tend to imply we are nothing more than any other species.