I&#x27;m not saying that state monopolies are good.  I&#x27;m saying that people need to get over the idea that everything they dislike or disagree with is &quot;a tax&quot;.  It isn&#x27;t.  A state monopoly on fuel would be almost impossible to avoid, and you could reasonably assert that it&#x27;s a tax (there would be debate, but your position would be reasonable).  After all, even if you don&#x27;t yourself consume fuel, almost every product you could possibly buy has to be transported from somewhere, and most transportation services available today use fuel.  A lottery is nothing like that.  The product, such as it is, does not form a component of the cost of any other product.  All you have to do to avoid giving the state money is not play the lottery, which should be very easy since they are very up front about the fact that a ticket is not only -ev but much more -ev than any casino or cardroom game you could possibly play.  If people stopped playing, the state would either give up its monopoly or (in a classic monopoly-monopsony dynamic) cut its prices.  And in the meantime, ex-players would be better off as well.