Should tipping be abolished in favor of higher base wages for service workers?

Tipping is a lie about prices. The menu says $18, the bill says $24 after the expected 25 percent, and everyone pretends the meal costs what the menu claims. No other industry gets to advertise one price and socially coerce another at the register. All-in pricing is simply honesty: the number on the menu is the number you pay, and the restaurant, not the customer's mood, is responsible for paying its staff. Diners say they like tipping because it feels like control, but it is control over someone else's rent, exercised by strangers with biases the research keeps documenting. Put the labor cost in the price, pay the wage, and let the menu tell the truth. States without a tip credit still have thriving restaurant scenes, which proves the honest price works. DOL.