It’s like the “very principled video game pirate” when, in reality, almost everyone who pirates games just doesn’t want to pay for games.

That's a very broad brush. I pirate almost everything, because most things are not worth paying for. Certainly not the price that they demand.

That negotiated compensation results in a higher-than-minimum wage, one that cannot be completely eroded by the company targeting cheap immigrant labor. In a lot of areas, tipping also occurs effectively under the table via cash, locking the government out entirely. Admittedly, this last benefit is definitely vanishing. Trump tried to salvage it with no taxes on tips.

So the reason is so that servers can't be replaced by immigrants? That's at least some sort of reason. I admit that there is value to having an extra voluntary contribution for service and things that you like, because that avoids a race to the bottom. It's just that I don't really encounter this in restaurants... yet.

You’ve fallen for rage-bait social media posts. The vast majority of American restaurant service workers are making about 15% tips. 20% if they’re good (or an attractive female). Tipping is, as you say, also mechanism for rewarding good service. Bad servers are definitely punished with lower earnings.

Not at all, I didn't say that it's common. Just that it's ridiculous in the cases when it is. I do remember that it used to be 10%. But I was recently in a tipping country, and I saw for a simple drink a "tipping choice" of 15%, 30%, and "other" IIRC. Quite ridiculous. I'm not tipping you to hand me a drink.