I Touch Myself

No one does smug righteousness like a San Francisco progressive "making a difference." This guy thinks he's impressive because he was able to go for one year without getting into a car: A Year Without Getting Into A Car

Adam Greenfield of San Francisco made a resolution at a party on Dec. 31, 2008: He would not drive, or ride, in an automobile for all of 2009
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This futuristic experiment fit in with Greenfield's lifestyle. A 29-year-old single guy who makes community films for City Hall, he was already commuting from the Inner Sunset mainly by bicycle. And he already believed that we're approaching a time in which oil will be so scarce, or expensive, that few of us will be able to power our cars or have access to foods grown from afar.

"I wanted to step out of the car world and downscale my life," he said. "I think this is going to be the theme of the 21st century - we are going to be forced to make do with less."

...

"Not having a car reduces the amount of decisions you have to make - we are flooded with so many choices it's making us unhappy," he said.

No car in San Francisco? Big Freakin' Deal! I lived in San Francisco for over 10 years before finally buying a car. SF'S not a big city and public transit connects you not just to every corner of the City, but also the South Bay and East Bay. Getting into a car is definitely a choice, not a necessity, around here. There are hundreds of thousands of people doing the exact same thing as Greenfield everyday, yet somehow they don't rate a mention in the newspaper.

Still, you have to love the moral vanity on display here. "I wanted to step out of the car." "We are going to be forced to make do with less." You know, some people don't get into cars because they can't afford them, not because they think their pitiful little protests against car-culture will save the planet. And, of course, the Chronicle plays along, calling him "futuristic," rather than, say, preening and retrograde.