I could have been that neighbor. For many years I was a WiFi communist and intentionally kept my AP open. I depended on free WiFi to get through college so I provided free WiFi. Then I got a cease and desist from my ISP for someone pirating a shit ton of porn. Like the list was about 10 full length pornos. Had to lock it down after that. I’ve considered making some deals with my neighbors to extend my mesh network into their house in exchange for space in their driveway, but haven’t gotten around to it.

I wouldn’t say any agreement from before Covid was foolish. That was a revolutionary event in our society. I’d say any agreement made after 2020 would be though. And since most agreements are on 5 year contracts, why are they renewing? Every company should have reduced or eliminated their office space by now. If they had 10 or 15 year agreements, they need to learn to just eat that cost.

Amazon and others 100% used RTO as a “soft layoff” which I’m not sure if I like more or less than them just doing an honest layoff. At least workers had the opportunity to find jobs elsewhere without finding themselves suddenly without income.

75% or more of corporate office space needs to be converted to apartments. I know it’s not a simple process, but it’s the best way to deal with empty office space. It also helps drive population density, which helps businesses like grocers, restaurants, and convenience stores.

Individuals don’t typically pay taxes themselves. They get deducted from paychecks. Employers do this before we even get paid. So companies would need to support this. But then you have some like my employer who has hundreds of people in California but is based in another state. How is that going to work? This just isn’t as easy as residents just deciding not to.