Personal freedom is taken very heavily by the west (especially the US). I would say, it is taken a tad more seriously than needed. I am not saying to be shackled, and lose freedom, but what I am saying is that, everything has it's own costs, even freedom.
People may ask, how does freedom have a cost? People might even say that it is the thing of "not having freedom" that is costly than having freedom, which must be benign. Again, I am not saying anything like that. But, volition (the right to choose), needs to be guided, and should not be simply left to the person's perceptions (and freedom). It could be any established social system, or, even a good friend who can guide you, that guides choices. Taking personal freedom too seriously, and not heeding to anyone's (or anything's) judgment, would basically make one go in the wrong direction, most often.
One big evidence of this, in modern societies (even developing countries like India), is the number of divorcees, single parenting, rise of crimes due to bad up-bringing of kids. Now, I don't agree that divorce is a good thing, especially for the kids. (In some countries, kids have their own agendas, and do not listen to parents, even if both are them are together. However, that is a different story :-().
The person who has parted ways in the couple, is thinking of his/her own life, and his/her freedom, and not heeding anything else. This ultimately ends up bad for him/her self too. It is inevitable to have issues, when a relationship breaks up. There is no single human being, who does never feel bad in his whole life, breaking up from (at least one of) partners. Even if one such person exists, it is extremely rare, and I would like to call him/her, a devil or a dracula than a human. This is the cost that one is paying for the arbitrary volition, exercised in the past (and of course, bad society as well).
And the kids, they don't listen to the parents, even though the parents mean no harm. So much of independence in the wrong age! People talk about drugs, friends influencing kids to wrong ways etc... Why is it that the east is more tolerant to such things than the west? Because, we know when to set a bird free, and when not to. It is very bad to let them go, when their judgment is weak, and can't consider all relevant factors. This will do more evil than good. Certainly a heavy price to pay for personal freedom.
And finally, one important thing. One of the things that sets humanity apart from animals, is the ability to feel others, trust others and live by them. Instinctively, and evolutionarily, every creature is self-aware and skeptic of the environment, may it be the nature, predators or social competition from same species. However, only animals live and die like that. Humans should not.
Why shouldn't they, because instinct is in stark contrast to civilization. If humans had not thought and got organized, there would not be any social structures. Even with a large brain, if instinct dominates, then there can't be any civilization. And, having social conditions (may it be live-ins or divorces or whatever), which can bring the beast in you, are dangerous to these structures. Don't forget that these (work/religion/rulers etc...) structures are the reason why humans are able to live happily today (that includes you and me :-))
What is human life, if one does not trust another living thing? What is it, if one does not feel others? And what is a human, if he/she thinks personal ego is paramount? Do we want to live and die that way? And what is the point of forming societies, and co-existence 2000 years ago, if we are not able to let ego go off even now? Ego is part of instinct, and only humans have any opportunity to live outside the instinct. After letting it go, one would have the right freedom, that does not agree to lose, through one's inner self, rather than through the external world.
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