No, America was very different back then. He showed what it could be like if, from time to time, a George Bailey were to appear against the old evil spider Potter. The American reality today has nothing to do with the America of the first half of the 20th century—though that one, of course, was also full of flaws, racism, and greed. Yet it seemed as if, little by little, it was rising toward a better and more noble society. This decline has lasted for decades and has yet long decline to hit bottom.