The US had real hardship in the Great Depression. There were a lot of social programs, regulations, and other progressive achievements made during that time. T

The US had real hardship in the Great Depression. There were a lot of social programs, regulations, and other progressive achievements made during that time. Then we were on the winning side in WWII, and happened to be the only place where most of the factories weren't in ruins. We also had a bunch of men trained in the art of war coming back and didn't want them pissed off, so companies were in a place to offer good pay and benefits. This caused a rollback of progressive policies over the next 75 years.