You’re a private person in the car but you’re back in public at the mall or a business, unless you’re suggesting that people have gyms and grocery stores in their cars.
No, again, if you are having to drive somewhere rather than walk somewhere, it is not the same thing.
I understand that Americans see driving and walking as pretty much the same thing, or walking as something undesirable and to be avoided at all costs, but that’s literally just in your small corner of the world.
My original comment is not meant to compare driving vs not driving. It is instead meant to contrast with the assertion that most modern Americans in 2024 have anything to do with the self-starting pioneer mindset of yore vs “collective urbanism.”
I understand that Americans see driving and walking as pretty much the same thing, or walking as something undesirable and to be avoided at all costs, but that’s literally just in your small corner of the world.