http://mediamatters.org/video/2012/11/07/eric-bollings-election-analysis-people-voted-to/191240 people voted for the free stuff.
Of course it's a zero-sum game, but the problem is that the Dems push a strategy that disincentivizes people from working hard, and maximizing their potential by being as self sufficient as possible. That drags down total output and productivity in this country, so it shrinks the pie that the government has to split. We seem to have reached, or are very close at least, to crossing a tipping point, at which we become very much like Europe, which is crumbling as we speak.