Hi; I have to disagree when you say that“America has always been the beacon of hope for the rest of the world precisely because it is and always was a progressive nation. All of the major reforms associated with curbs on a formerly unregulated private sector began or were developed here: trust busting, 8 hour workdays, the 40 hour week, child labor laws, union representation, worker safety and health inspections”

America was/is obviously perceived as a nation of opportunity and freedom, but not because of social welfare programs. Many reforms (most?) began in Europe. Thus, using only the UK as an example (because it is easy to pull up the data from the Web):-

1: Old age pensions were established in the UK in 1908
2; Slavery was rendered illegal in England in 1772, the sale of slaves became illegal throughout the British Empire in 1807 and their possession in 1834.
3. The Elementary Education Act was introduced in 1870. This provided basic education to all children between ages of 5 and 13 (and attendance became compulsory around 1880).
4. The UK National Health System began around about 1948- and the US is still waiting for that one.