> You seem to lack faith in the efficacy of ambition.
Yet that is precisely what happens here in New Zealand: the wait staff get at least minimum wage and there is no tipping. Better restaurants attract better clientele, and there is competition for better wait staff so they get paid better.
Tipping is charity. Nothing more and nothing less. Nobody should be in a position of demanding Charity as a right, and certainly not demanding a percentage of the bill, such as 15% or 20%, for doing nothing more than the job that they are already paid to do.
Nonsense. Tipping is an implied contract between customer and server. In this respect, the waiter is an independent contractor, like a hair-stylist.
That's as far from charity as you can get.
I think it's funny reading your thoughts on this, because the restaurant biz, in the US, is one of the few no-holds-barred bastions of true capitalism left.
There are few purer, untainted marketplace relationships than diner/waiter.