Not all corporations will exploit their workers. I have worked for several Fortune 500 companies and most treat their employees better than they are legally required. It has nothing to do with regulations, they do it because if they didnt, they would end up with shitty employees.
Small government is the best government for the US because our Constitution was small government. It is framework for our country. The Constitution even specifically names the jobs of the three branches. But, they have taken that along with the 10th amendment and pissed on it. Protect our rights? They only protect rights that would cause a revolt if the violated it. They push and bend so far to just short of the point of breaking it. They dont do it for the good of the people, they do it to keep peace. They will sell your rights to the highest bidder in a heartbeat if they can get away with it.
It is not the corporations or other people's job to protect your rights. Yes, the government is suppose to protect your rights at a minimum. But, they dont even do that right. You're giving credit to someone for doing the bare minimum their job requires although they still manage to fuck it up. Ultimately, it is each individual person's duty to protect themselves and their rights.
That big government attacks other countries and kills innocent people, kills its own citizens in drone strikes, has experimented on US citizens with torture, psychedelic drugs and more, experimented with eugenics, allowed slavery for decades, captures people and hold them without due process in the name of terrorism, spies on our phone calls, emails, and other ways, lets lobbyist write the bills, caters to corporations over citizens, allows Congress to sell themselves to the highest bidder, started a drug war that is not winnable and makes things worse, throws people in prison for years for having a plant, has the highest prison population in the world, has for-profit prisons.... Should I go on?
Yes, they gave us minimum wage and working weeks. So what? A small government could have done the same thing. The people could have done the same. Like I said, you're giving credit for the bare minimum. The FDA is overstepping Constitutional authority, is no longer tax funded, and ran by the companies it is suppose to oversee. The entire FDA board is made up of executives from food and drug companies who also fund it. Giving the government credit for overturning discrimination that they created in the first place is ridiculous. It is like giving a thief credit for returning stolen goods.
It is my opinion but your standards for government are far too low.
Our Constitution gave the Federal Government a list of jobs. The 10th amendment says that anything outside of that list is the jobs of the States. Our framework is small government and most of our problems come from not obeying that. Big government is like throwing gas on a fire.
Power is suppose to belong to the people. Not the government. Anything else is asking for trouble.