The author makes vague claims and provides no evidence for them. And the sources he does site are questionable at best and purposefully dishonest at worst. No where does the author say what freedoms people actually had or how we know they were followed and enforced. There is no first hand source for ANY of his claims except the Magna Carta, which undercuts his own, that is that the past had some glorious freedoms that were around and freely followed. From the Magna Carta

> THE City of London shall have all the old Liberties and Customs which it hath been used to have. Moreover We will and grant, that all other Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and the Barons of the Five Ports, and all other Ports, shall have all their Liberties and free Customs.

Just from a superficial reading this implies that "Liberties and Customs" were afforded to London but then revoked and now formally reapplied.

The Magna Carta, and other historical documents like the Assize of Clarendon, are important because they formalized unwritten codes into laws, expanded rights, and set up a legal system that allows for non violent means of dealing with conflict. Without them we wouldn't have things like Habeas Corpus and instead be defending against arbitrary decision making by people like kings