Since Megan McArdle’s male bloggers are leaving most of the work to the women, let’s look at Ms. Courtney Knapp’s latest contribution to The Atlantic. Knapp is a “tipster” for Reason and a friend of McArdle, which tells us that she must, at the very least, have libertarian leanings. But being a libertarian in reality is not nearly as easy as being a libertarian in theory.

In the real world, Libertarians find themselves supporting atrocities such as state-supported racism, organ harvesting, and Jonah Goldberg in the name of the sacred Free Market. The Libertarian party platform declares:

Since governments, when instituted, must not violate individual rights, we oppose all interference by government in the areas of voluntary and contractual relations among individuals. People should not be forced to sacrifice their lives and property for the benefit of others. They should be left free by government to deal with one another as free traders; and the resultant economic system, the only one compatible with the protection of individual rights, is the free market.

Which is why we find it very strange that Knapp wants to eliminate tipping, the free trade of money for service. Knapp wants to give up the choice of what to pay her server in favor of the restaurant dictating the price for service.

Though tipping may help make bars, restaurants, and coffee shops more interesting, there is little evidence that tips are related to objective measurements of quality service. I would like to see America move toward a standard service fee at restaurants and bars, abolishing the tip.

Tipping seems to be the bete noir of libertarians. Psychologist Dr. Helen Smith, wife of Instapundit Glenn Reynolds, examined the issue in detail shortly before Barack Obama was elected president.

[T]he point I wanted to make in this post was that “yes, tipping can be important,” but it should not necesarily be considered standard. I tip for a job well done and if I am treated poorly, I see no reason to pay for the privilege.

That seems fair. If someone does a good job, you should pay them a little extra. If someone does a poor job, you should make them work for free. I’m sure Dr. Helen works for free when her clients don’t recover from their psychological problems.

I have also noticed that hairdressers and spa services charge more than psychologists get for an hour of psychotherapy from Medicare, our share? 67.00 per 60-75 minutes.

Once again, the Free Market is being strangled by the government. It has monopolized the court system, preventing people from hiring judges, police, and psychologists only when they need them, at the price they want to pay or be paid. Dr. Helen is forced to work for the government for their paltry wage instead of finding all her clients, charging them whatever she wants to, and growing rich through her hard work.

I went to my hairdresser yesterday, and was there an hour and a half–my total bill: $110.00. You could say that the poor hairdresser has to pay for being in the spa, but try the overhead of a professional office, it’s probably more.

I’m confused. If Dr. Helen thinks her hairdresser charges too much, why doesn’t she refuse to go there? How is the Free Market to work if people pay too much for services?

Anyway, I totally disagree that if you are on a budget that you should have to give up riding in a taxi, going to get a haircut at a spa, or a massage if you are stressed just because you can’t leave a whopping tip.

And who could argue with that logic? Why should a woman go to a cheaper hair salon (We know one that charges $13 on Wednesdays!), take a bus, or skip her massage when she can just stiff the staff instead? How is a woman to indulge herself if others insist she pay for her indulgences?

If doctors and professionals can deal with people who balk at having to pay a five dollar co-pay for their care, then massage therapists and hairdressers etc. can tolerate not getting the whopping tip they think they deserve each and every time.

The nerve of those people, deciding that they don’t have to pay for services!

Or perhaps the real lesson here is that many of those who snootily tell others that they owe whopping tips for service whether it is good or not, underneath it all think that luxury services are more important to pay for than healthcare.

How dare they? What kind of person demands that clients who use her services pay for her work even when the clients don’t like the fees?

As we can see, tipping is a very troublesome subject, and Ms. Knapp promises us that she will follow up her proposition with “the complicated etiquette” of tipping. We can’t wait to read her work–as long as she doesn’t charge for it. We, too, believe in paying someone what they are worth.