A "free society" is a society that lacks compulsion or duress. The extent to which a society is said to be "free" or "unfree" is the extent to which that society can forcibly restrict the actions of its members through the threat of violence.
A free society is one where a person has redress for harms committed by others.
How is "harming them back" not a form of redress?
A free society is one that protects the many from the harms of the few.
How does the ability to form a mob and murder someone who causes harm not a form of protection?
I'm talking about real practical freedom.
You're talking about bullshit rhetorical freedom as rendered in patriotic speeches and fourth of july beauty pageant essays.
PRACTICAL freedom is the extent to which you are able to act without fear of the consequences of those actions. You are, for example, free to marry anyone you want, free to have sex with anyone you want, free to eat anything you want, and the powers that be will not punish you for those choices nor sanction anyone else's attempt to interfere with those choices.
You have freedom of speech, which means you can say whatever you want whenever you want up until your speech knowingly causes a public hazard or incites violence in others. So you have SLIGHTLY limited freedom of speech.
You have freedom of the press, which means you can write and publish whatever you want, just as long as you do not knowingly or deliberately publish a falsehood that defames someone's reputation. So you have slightly limited freedom of the press.
You DO NOT have the freedom to kill someone for any reason you can think of, or even punch someone else in the face; designated authority figures will respond to that choice by visiting violence on you, and will sanction those who respond to your violence with a defensive action. So you have VERY LITTLE freedom of violence.
"Freedom" isn't just a catch-all term for "When things are going well for everyone." Freedom must be balanced with public order. A totally free society is a society with no order, and a totally ordered society is one with no freedom. The struggle is to find the ideal balance between the two.
real freedom is not free.
Of course it is. All you have to do is walk away from order.