To understand why this is not happening look to the Federal reserve and the entire banking system.
The Fed is a half private/public institution. It is the source of power for all the banking clans and why they have a chokehold on America.
The fractional reserve banking system allows them to create credit ex nihilo and all banks and government borrow this imaginary money from the Fed when they need some more juice, but have to repay it with interest.
Because of the way the economy is established and the massive amount of debt the country is in, it is no longer possible to end the fed. This would destroy the American dollar, reignite the great depression and destroy the lives of regular working class people.
The only reasonable way out of the chokehold is for the government to end the private ownership of the fed and take full control. They then can use the fractional reserve banking system to to create this imaginary money to pay off the national debt, but over the course of 10-20 years so as to keep inflation to a mininum.
If you want to take power back and truly return it to the people, you're going to need a new economic system, one that doesn't rely on a debt based economy.
There is a way, but American conservatives seem to be thoroughly indoctrinated into the Austrian school of economics, which makes true reform extremely difficult.
That style of economics is what the bankers use to their advantage, and unless Americans come up with a new school of economics to revise capitalism and fix the brokeness, America will always be on the path to serfdom.
Many find this hard to accept, but capitalism is a broken system. The closest thing to free market capitalism existed before WWII, and the economy was in recession 40% of the time.
After WWII the government got way more involved in the free market and switched to Keynesian economics and that's what caused the boom. Crony capitalism as many call it, is what many conservatives say the don't want. But keynesianism is crony by nature and most conservatives say you still need some regulation, thus they wish for the crony aspect to help the little guy, but in reality the regulation will always help out the highest bidder.
This is not an advocacy for socialism, as that system is even worse. But there needs to be new theories that are well thought out, and are not set up to the advantage of the banking clans.
I think you have an overly romantic view of the years before the fed. The economy went through constant boom bust cycles which was devastating to the American economy. Here is a link describing the bust cycles.
https://www.thoughtco.com/financial-panics-of-the-19th-century-1774020
Also your timeline is off. Austrian economics was developed in the late 19th century and soon after you get the fed which then led to keynesian economics.
You can't point to a time where pure capitalism existed and delivered what was promised, reality is it did not work and had to be saved by government intervention.
The government can only do so much when it comes to a market. Their main job should be to help foster competition in the free market.
It is impossible for "Central Planners" to control a market effectively. Prices of goods change too quickly for central planners to be able to react.
I am a software engineer.
As more and more things become automated. The less need there will be for government.