Which is pretty gloomy, even gloomier than I’m willing to accept, but I think there is a level on which it’s true cultures change at the speed of death. Cultures certainly change at a different pace than the societies who live within them — hence subcultures, culture wars, and so on.

I think the somewhat different mode of socializing, the role alcohol plays in it, and other cultural changes will be necessary. Things probably are changing already, and have done for years, but I’m dubious a movement like MADD would even arise at this point, let alone whether it would bring about change.

Maybe some of the reasons I think so will come clearer in my continuing posts on Gin Lane and Soju-ro.

It sounds like if there’s going to be a change in mindset, it’s going to take a lot more work than it did in North America.

I’d argue that in Korea there are fewer longstanding taboos about extreme use of alcohol itself, which contributes to the drunk-driving problem. Reading about gin lane and thinking back over the moral reformers and manner ssociety movements, and teetotal movements for that matter, the only thing vaguelty similar here are the taboos on women drinking (which seem to be falling away increasingly) and the avoidance of alcohol by (mostly female) Protestant Christians. But the things people get away with here because they’re drunk are sometimes astonishing.

A lot of people here drink just to get absolutely smashed, something like how I think teenagers drink in North America.

It’s odd for me — growing up in Canada in the 1980s and 1990s, I was very aware of MADD, saw lots of PSAs about drunk driving, and so on. I only ever saw one person drink and drive while I was living in Canada.

So I don’t know what will change the attitudes here. Maybe the occasional crackdowns have helped, but I doubt it. Something like MADD would probably help change how the kids growing up think about it, but… well, probably some kind of enforcement of traffic laws would help. Strict punishments for being caught drunk driving.

But alcohol is such a huge part of socializing here, and other social changes will need to come before people do anything not involving drinking on a social outing. There’s just so little to do in groups here, and people seem to depend on drinking to relax and socialize. To the point where alcohol is seemingly a crucial social glue, but… er, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll continue on about this in the Gin Lane & Soju-ro posts I’ll be working on this summer and fall.

I guess I feel like this: there’s infrastructure to deal with the problem (a justice system); there’s more than enough resources; but there’s really no political will, and a less-strong penchant for forming societies or groups like MADD. This is what Koreans sometimes mean when they call Korea a developing country: there’s resources, but the mindset hasn’t changed.

I, for the most part, find that a frustrating cop-out, though I try to be generous and understand.

How long did it take for that to change in North America?

What’s the attitude in other parts of the world (e.g., Europe)?

What will it take to change the mindset in Korea?

MADD wasn’t founded until the 1980s, and that did more to educate and help cohere social pressure against drunk driving than anything else that I’m aware of. What will it take to do that in Korea?