One of the most foreboding dictums ever written concerning government is this one: "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury."

The original author of this quote is a matter of dispute. Some say Alexander Tytler and others Alexis de Tocqueville. Either way, the words ring true and it is sadly familiar and ominous, but may also offer a ray of hope.

Between forty-seven and fifty percent of the human souls in this country pay no taxes at the federal level, and a growing percentage receive 'earned income' credits, meaning not only do they not pay in, they are actually given unsolicited welfare by the top fifty percent that they are told is their due. They are 'entitled' to it; it was 'earned.'

A large, and growing, percentage of our citizenry who do have good jobs are working for the government, earning twice what their private counterparts bring home. To pour salt in the wound, these extravagant salaries are for jobs that produce no goods, add no value to our economy, and are actually paid with confiscated monies from the only members of society who are producing goods and services that people need.

It seems that the above prediction is coming true right in front of our very eyes. Once the balance tips and the takers outnumber the givers, there is little chance of peaceful reversal.

We stand at a precipice. Can we stop or reverse our destiny? If you take the above scenario as the only given, it seems fairly hopeless. The lure of free benefits, unearned income tax credits, and exaggerated salaries for parasitic jobs is almost too good to resist. Largess is seductive. It forms an ever-widening destructive vortex that sucks in all but the most resolute. It feeds on apathy and dependency and entitlement attitudes. How can it be stopped? Is it even possible?

When half of the voters, who are now a net drag on the economy, cast their ballots in hopes of electing someone who will give them more goodies from the treasury, are we not swirling hopelessly around the drain leading to the cesspool of crushing debt and eventual tyranny?

While on the surface this seems like an unstoppable force, buried in the quote is a possible answer: they can vote.

The fuel for the takers must be cut off. But how? What feeds them? Taxes. Where do taxes come from? The producers. How do the takers get taxes, their largess? They simply trade their votes to people who have the sovereign authority to use force against the producers to confiscate their earnings and redistribute it to them, after a bit -- quite a bit actually -- off the top for their trouble.

So the bottom line here is votes. It's a waste of time trying to stop the money; those government presses will keep churning out our future demise until and unless a fundamental change takes place. If the votes are there, the money follows.

So let's slaughter a sacred cow and ask the obvious question. Why should a parasitic class have the right to vote?

Many will rebel at even the mention of this heresy, assuredly those benefitting from the system, but even good people who see our situation for what it is. 'The vote' seems such a cornerstone of America's foundation, the birthright of all citizens. But we routinely take that right away. Most felons, through actions they freely chose to pursue, forfeit that right. Extend that thought, step out of the box and ask yourselves this: if some can lose their rights through personal actions why not others?

If someone takes a Federal job should they retain the right to elect their own benefactors while suckling at the public teat? Should someone who is on welfare or otherwise benefitting from taxpayers' money be allowed to vote on benefit increases or extensions? Should those who are consistently voting themselves largess be allowed to continue? Should the takers have the tools to force the givers to fork over ever more staggering amounts of treasure or should that be a decision made by the givers? The takers have become infantilized. Would any sane parent give their children the unqualified right to decide their own allowance?

American history is full of limitations on the right to vote. Many, if not most, were undeniably wrong, such as disenfranchising freed slaves, women, and people that couldn't afford a poll tax. However, these onerous limitations were levied against people due to circumstances beyond their control. These wrongs were remedied by amendments to the constitution.

Unlike the victimized classes listed above, government workers and welfare recipients could be considered to have voluntarily abrogated their right to vote and they could just as quickly recover that right by becoming a producer again. There may be many things you can't change, but you can refuse to take welfare.

This is only one of many possible ways to build a firewall between the treasury and those who seek to plunder our nation's future. These are ominous times and it will take serious solutions to curb the darker tendencies of human nature.

Those among us who seek to slow the mad dash to ruination must consider every constitutional possibility to preserve our nation. This is a fight for survival; it is a battle against what some say is inevitable. As we attempt to wrest the levers of power from the takers we will be assailed, denigrated, castigated, and attacked from every side, but if we are to be free men the battle must be joined.