If by "become the state" you mean "is supplying state-like services" (like defense), you compete by creating another company supplying the same services. We hav

If by "become the state" you mean "is supplying state-like services" (like defense), you compete by creating another company supplying the same services. We have dozens of private defense companies in Romania. If you mean "is preventing others from supplying the same services"... if it does that by using force, we're no worse off than now. If it does that by enticing people to sign bad agreements... I can't say I like the idea, but I'm not seeing it as a big deal long-term. > In the case of telecom there is a natural monopoly over last mile connectivity because it makes zero economic sense to create more than one or two redundant last mile connectivity networks And yet, I have one ISP that put up 7 km of fiber optics, that have been stolen several times, in order to get my business. (I live in the country side.) I had another ISP that put up 15 km of regular cable for the same reason. (I no longer use them because at some point I had 3 ISPs and I was trying to cut costs. I honestly regret that now that I'm making a lot more money.)