@gabriel@mstdn.starnix.networkI think it was real in the post-WW2 US, like the 50-ies.
Imagine the events of Updike's "Rabbit, Run" today: he left a woman with two kids, and not like he left them without a cent, found another woman, moved in with her, bought another car… If that happened today, everyone in this novel would be eating worms or dealing drugs to survive 😅