I live in Canada, which is similar to the US in this regard, and I can't believe how enslaved we are to the private automobile.
If you want the freedom to move across vast amounts of open nature, then yeah the private automobile is a good approximation for freedom of mobility. But designing urban areas that necessitate the use of a private vehicle (or even mass transit) for such essentials as groceries or education is enslavement. I don't buy the density argument either. Places that historically had the density to support alternative modes of transportation, densities that are lower than they are today, are only marginally accessible to alternative forms of transportation today. Then there is modern development, where the density is decreased due to infrastructure requirements.
To me, "urban planning" has a lot to answer for. They seem to have the foresight of a moth. However, they are probably constrained by politics which is similar.
“enslaved,” really?????
Can you reasonably get by without a car? For most Americans the answer is no. Therefore, yes you are enslaved. You don't have the freedom to choose how you get to work, you have to spend money on a car.
Do you understand what enslavement is? Because it’s not “i can’t reasonably get by,” it’s “I am not recognized as human, I am legally property and have no rights.”
These things are different.