RE: IS the ART of verbal communication getting lost?

I think I'm going to answer with the same quote I left from Robert A. Heinlein on @freedompoint's post:

I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.

We are all free because we all have freedom of choice. Sometimes those choices can lead us into bondage, but sometimes they can lead to more freedom. It's all a matter of personal perspective.

So yes, I'd say I'm free because for the most part I always get to choose and no one can take that away from me. Good or bad outcome, the choice is always mine.