The smell of rebellion is in the air. Not only does the United States suffer from rampant wealth inequality but it is in middle of historic demographic shift, where for the first time ever, a democracy will transfer majority political power from one demographic group to another. Most demographic shifts have resulted in pogroms or genocide, and the United States is presenting the telltale signs for the same risks. The nation is acquiring significant amounts of debt due to a relentless defunding of the federal government, and suffers almost yearly government shutdowns and debt default threats. As the number of insults increase, so does the likelihood of an event. Tax-based systems of representation make democratic nations less susceptible to the threat of government shutdown and debt defaults by allocating more political representation to the states paying more federal taxes. This has two significant effects. The more populous and wealthier states generally prefer progressive taxes and this should result in lower deficits. Threats to shut down the government or default of its debt are less legitimate when the government takes on less accumulated debt and maintains smaller deficits. The states that generally pursue austerity measures and pursue government shutdowns most often will have significantly less representation in at least one of the legislature’s chambers. This will reduce the number of attempts and seriously curtail the support for these dangerous policies. The combination of these two properties in tax-based representation will make nations more likely to survive into maturity, where higher per capita incomes and stronger labor rights, make the population far less susceptible to a culture of government shutdowns and debt default threats.