Truthfully, while it IS well established, this is only because the class of “owners” have beaten it into us (workers/consumers) and it is a great example of capitalism gaslighting more exploitation.
I am, admittedly, a leftist and incredibly untrusting of anything where workers are not an equal part of the ownership in a business, so I know I jump too conclusion/assumption quicker than I prob should. But, I think there is no doubt that there is a lot of FUD around what would happen if staff were paid a living wage, all meant to distract to keep profit in pockets of the owner.
(Anecdotally, I don’t remember tipping being the norm when I visited Europe. But it was some time ago.)
Australia has some of the highest minimum wages in the world (with its own negative effect on small business owners) and you pay exactly the sum total of what you ordered on the menu as all prices are quoted inclusive of applicable taxes. Tipping is your prerogative if you feel the service was exemplary.
The US needs to get rid of the idea that it is the customer's responsibility to pay servers' wages over and above what they're already paying for the food.
I believe the kind of character(capital owner) utilizing the current system is going to be best tuned to exploit; a process made easiest (in regards to US service industries) by our “tipping culture.”
> And nothing prevents 'workers' from pooling their resources
You are “technically” correct but really so very wrong in practice. That same exploitation driven by capitalism makes it so hard to “pull yourself up by bootstraps” even in a group, if you’re always (by design) one paycheck away from homelessness. (Also a caste kept alive by design.)
> The US needs to get rid of the idea that it is the customer's responsibility to pay servers' wages over and above what they're already paying for the food.
I completely agree!