Tim Stack, in his April 17 letter to the editor opposing the privatization of the state liquor store system, bemoans the loss of revenue that the state will face if this coercive monopoly is dismantled.

What Stack fails to consider is that the revenue generated by the state system is ill-begotten, as it comes through the restraint of trade that characterizes the state’s liquor sales monopoly — a system solely inspired by Prohibition-era sentiment.

Moreover, financial considerations are irrelevant to the issue; liquor sales are not a proper government function, irrespective of Stack’s assertion that liquor is “not the typical product.”

The government should not be in the business of selling any products.