so what went wrong?

This is part 2 of the ME and WE syndrome - what went wrong?
For starters, life was much simpler some 40 years ago - People did not have high expectations from life. Their objective was to work all day, get married, have children, bring home the bacon. Their life cycle was complete - they have come to this world and done what they were meant to do. Never mind if they had an imperfect family unit - it was their fate. Remember this word?
Over the years, with progress, open economies and Education - expectations change. From being contented, people moved on towards 'near perfection'. Our society was the educator, the world set the example - of always moving ahead - "a rolling stone gathers no moss".
AND so, settling for second best was never good enough. Years and years went by, and the new concept of 'being the best' became the mantra for everyone.
If people demanded more from the workplace, economy, government, what makes us think that we would stop at wanting more from a relationship. We all have relationships with our workplace, economy and the government, don't we? Don't we strive to get the best workplace choice to work in? Don't we hope for a better economy? Don't we vote for the best government? So why can't we want a better relationship? It goes with the territory.
Its strange how society demands Excellence, yet when couples need the same from a relationship, it's seen as a problem.
Break-ups are not pretty.
But unhappy relationships are ugly.
Bottom line is : grow up and move on.
I do not remember a time when the slogan was "anything goes" - it has always been excellence, the best, etc etc etc. AND so, we grew to expect the best out of anything, Relationships included, because there was no Exception clause.