When I was in high school in a small town on the prairies
I came up with a scheme to make money with my photography hobby which was only costing me money so far. I'd go to sporting events and other area happenings, take black and white photos, run home and develop them in a bathroom darkroom, then sell the prints to the weekly newspapers in area small towns for 25˘ each.
Basketball was the easiest. Set up under the basket, shoot away, then crop, "edit," and otherwise adjust the photos so they'd print "perfectly" in the less advanced half-tone systems at the small newspapers.
I only had a 50mm lens and a 135mm "long" lens. I had to edit the photos a lot, especially cropping. But also adjusting contrast, etc, so that the images would work when published in a newspaper. To be honest, they printed a number (at first) that were less than ideal, simply because no other photos were available. Once a few sessions went full circle from me attending the event then seeing the resulting photos published, I could see what needed to be done to make the photos better in the final product. But the fact is that a lot of things happen, particularly with action shots. They're rarely perfect.
Some weeks, I made $5 to $10 US dollars. Well, the minimum wage was around $2.25, so that was decent. I had fun seeing a lot of things. I could afford gasoline (around 30˘ a gallon), I could afford film. Life was good.
"The perfect shot" then involved a tripod, Kodachrome slide film, plenty of planning, note taking (especially exposure settings, since the film didn't record them -- needed to see what went wrong if a scene was over- or under-exposed). It was rare that a perfect shot came off. Bracketing was a common technique for shots that couldn't be repeated. That got expensive though. And that wasn't everyday photography work either. Everyday was "get what you can."
I'd say that considerable editing of photos has been done long before the digital era. Honestly, I find I have to work harder -- or be more conscious of what I'm doing -- in the digital era. There's no per shot cost threat hanging over my head. So, I might pop off a bunch of shots, get home and discover that I don't like any of them. Also, after the fact, I see different angles that I might have liked better. Also, I sorta dislike most photo editing programs. Once upon a time, I really got into Paint Shop Pro, but at some point, they (sold maybe?) changed the program for an update and ruined it.
All this said, no, everything cannot be fixed by editing. If the light is on the wrong side of the subject, you might be out of luck. Even with RAW, there are limits to what can be done. You do have to "try" still. I find myself still trying for good shots. Not 'perfect' though.