having lived with or without a car i never understood the whole car= freedom thing.
A car can be an inabler just as much as a giver of freedom. I mean, if you were walking from point a to b instead of driving, your trip is prolonged allowing you to relax, take in the environment around you... maybe take sometime out to see the simple beauty all around us that we would otherwise miss.
In a car, sure you can go from a to b to c fast and in style... but it speeds your life up. Green means Go and Go means fast. It's a very North American thang I suppose... we'll take what we want and we'll get it right away.
I dunno, there's arguments both ways.
That's all i'm gonna say about it.