Equality as something desirable from a political philosophy standpoint has changed meanings over time. We see a similar shift with the terms right and justice. Equality used to principally refer to equal rights (old sense of rights), or equality before the law. I think that is wholly desirable and wholly consistent with freedom and human value. Today, it has shifted to include other forms of equality, such as income equality and labor equality. These suffer from the difficulties you mention, including requiring an infringement on freedom to maintain. The question then becomes: what's the right balance? I doubt many will say that there is no trade-off, so we need to find the right medium. I prefer to err on the side of freedom myself, although I am fully willing to admit that doing so can cause inequality (modern sense) to rise. I think that one thing that can get lost is that inequality (modern sense) can produce positive things, like niches that only certain types of people can fill, that end up being good for everybody. For example, investment stagnates when there are no rich people.