Movie "300", slavery and freedom

I went to see the movie "300" last night, impressive. I liked it but it was pretty graphic, and gratuitously so in my opinion - severed limbs and such flying through the air. There was also a little T&A sprinkled here and there which kept things interesting. At one point the Spartan king, Leonidas, is offered his kingship position, ruler of all his people, reporting to no-one but the invading God-king, Xerxes, if only he will kneel at Xerxes' feet. In other words, everything he has, with no further bloodshed, if he submits to the rule of another.

Of course we are taught that freedom is everything, and that we should never surrender to slavery, BUT... I was thinking about the offer made above to Leonidas relative to what it means to being a slave. When I think of slavery I think mostly of the movie "Roots" and that depiction of slavery. But the version of slavery offered above seems very different. It reminds me more of a union / company type relationship with the union under the direction of the company but with the strength of the union allowing it to drive policy and influence direction.

This all gets me thinking about the actual meaning of slavery relative to the lives that people live today. Reading the following definitions of slavery that I found on the web, it doesn't sound too far removed from the life I think a lot of people feel they may be living today.

Slave [noun]: a person who works very hard for someone else. Example: He has a slave who types his letters and organizes his life for him.
[this sounds a lot like most of my days at work...]

and

Slave [verb]: to work very hard, often for another person.
[I guess this is a little too general, I guess it makes more sense if you add the words "for no compensation" to the end of the definition]

Have we become slaves without realizing it? Laws and by-laws and guidelines that restrict and limit and control our actions a little at a time. The most obvious changes have happened since 9/11, but even before that, jay-walking for example... Crossing a street at other than a controlled intersection...how free can a person be if doing this is illegal?

This got me thinking about the meaning of freedom, and I found these...

1. the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.
2. Liberty of the person from slavery, detention, or oppression.
   ==> [these I get, talking about being free of physical or psychological restraint]
   
   
3. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
4. the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc.
5. civil liberty, as opposed to subjection to an arbitrary or despotic government.
   ==> [these are not so clear; external control, interference, regulation, obligations, (seemingly) arbitrary rules - these all sound like typical days at work or dealing with traffic laws or community by-laws...?]
   
   
6. the power to determine action without restraint.
7. The capacity to exercise choice; free will: We have the freedom to do as we please all afternoon.
8. personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery.
9. the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination.
   ==> [this I get, the freedom to make decisions. and here is where things get interesting... One could argue that I have the freedom to choose to follow the rules or choose not to and suffer the consequences - but if the rules exert control and regulate your activities, then is this a fair choice?]
   
   
10. Freedom, independence, liberty refer to an absence of undue restrictions and an opportunity to exercise one's rights and powers. Freedom emphasizes the opportunity given for the exercise of one's rights, powers, desires, or the like: freedom of speech or conscience; freedom of movement. Independence implies not only lack of restrictions but also the ability to stand alone, unsustained by anything else: Independence of thought promotes invention and discovery.
11. The right of enjoying all of the privileges of membership or citizenship: the freedom of the city.
    ==> [enjoying the privileges of membership or to exercise one's rights - all of this implies that the conditions of "membership" or one's defined rights allow for a degree of freedom - cuz if the rules don't list something, then do you really have the freedom?]

All of this to say - are we as free as we believe that we are? Or have we been moving slowly into a state of slavery under the guise of "public" safety?

Then again - people are self-centered idiots. Without overly specific regulations that try to put common sense into enforceable writing, you get the jerks who toss their trash out their car windows while driving down my nice country road... I guess we need the multitude of little by-laws like those against littering as much as we need the bigger laws like the ones that make it illegal to throw large rocks at these same passing cars...