From the authors:
The goal is not ideological environmental asceticism and/or anti-car militancy, but pleasure while engaged in environmentally and socially-responsible practices– in-line with what the environmental philosopher Kate Soper has called a ‘hedonistic environmentalism’ where human happiness and comfort is not ground under a radical-Jainist wheel of self-abnegation in the interest of decreasing personal carbon footprints.
--Post Car Press
Thank you!! I don't know if I could have said it better. Through my self-reflections and reporting on this blog, I've come to articulate to myself that the kind of bike commuter, environmentalist, friend and person that I want to be (but haven't always been) isn't self-flagellating. Interestingly enough, it's not only an inward paradigm shift, but a fight against an environmentalist stereotype that is inaccessible and elitist. It's incredibly annoying to borrow a suburban for whatever reason, only to have car-driving folk crow, "Ooooh! You drove an S.U.Veeeeee," in victory, as if the entire reason I ride my bike all the time is just to spite them. How about this:
Maybe I LIKE riding my bike.
Maybe I find it enriching.
And maybe I can eat more cookies.
