Ask HN: Why aren't Americans rising up against tipping?

I've read lots of articles about how Americans hate their tipping culture. But tipping is optional so why don't they just stop? If you don't tip you both help society improve and you save money. Win-win. Because Maria works so damn hard cleaning those hotel rooms, and if I take a stand on principle and don't leave her a tip when I check out, the only ones who will suffer for it are her and her kids. Should I instead write her a note about how we're helping society improve? It’s a Lose-Lose for the employees of the current system. You’re cheekily superiorly saving a few bucks on a cause that isn’t going to be helped by snubbing a servicing worker. It’s hard to stop because it means denying a dollar or two to a human in front of you who wants it and tried to earn it during your transaction. It’s not immoral, just less than ideal, so it’s endured. That’s not my experience at all, as a European who frequently travels to the US for work. If anything, I’d say that restaurants in the US are slightly more expensive without tips, definitely more expensive with. Mainly because it makes you look like a tremendous douchebag and does immediate harm to real employees for an intangible cause that looks like grandstanding. I say this as a person who hates tipping but mechanically leaves 20%.