A new study found that people living under “big government” are generally happier than those who live under a “small government” that favors the free market, reported Richard Eskow of the Campaign for America’s Future.

The study, entitled “Assessing the Impact of the Size and Scope of Government on Human Well-Being,” was led by political scientist Patrick Flavin of Baylor University with professors Benjamin Radcliff of the University of Notre Dame and Alexander Pacek of Texas A&M University.

“We were basically looking to measure both how involved the government is in regulation of intervening in the economy,” said Flavin. “There’s no agreed-upon way to do that . . . so we used four different measures (and) as researchers like, all four showed the same result: Governments with more intervention in the economy or a larger size of government had happier citizens.”

While maintaining that they objectively conducted the research, the team compiled global survey data of 50,000 people in 21 countries. According to their research, “the correlation between left-leaning government and individual life satisfaction is strong.”

The study asserts that:

Within the liberal-democratic world, at least, the principal alternative source of power vis-a-vis the market is the organized power of the state. It is for this reason that the nature and extent of political intervention in the market has consistently been the main axis of political conflict within democratic societies.

Furthermore, countries whose government has more liberal policies increase the People’s standard of living simply because poverty and income inequality are decreased. The study continues by saying that impoverished people perpetuate “lower self-esteem, lower efficacy, higher rates of depression, and other deleterious psychological states.”

Research also showed that the rates of divorce, alcoholism, domestic violence, and overall physical health are better in countries with generous welfare states.

The welfare state is something that the American GOP, free-market lovers try to find every way they can to gut. The current state of right-wing, free market politics has proven time and again to be detrimental to the well-being of American citizens.

Josh is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire. Follow him on Twitter @dnJdeli.