Unfortunately, that's a debate you need to be having with the collective restaurant owners of the nation. Until and unless they start paying living wages, there will be a "standard", however unofficial, that tips of some level are expected for every server who's not actively terrible.

The picture you paint of there being a "vocal minority advocating for tipping...that receive higher tips," at the expense of those who want good wages, suggests that you have very little contact with the type of people who work these jobs. Absolutely, all of them would love good wages. But that's not something they have the power to push for (because labor power in the US is abysmally low, and frequently vilified as if corporations were the entities the country—nay, the entire world—is set up to serve, rather than human beings).

So rather than snidely grumbling about how greedy these people are who want tips, instead of good wages, maybe put that energy toward telling your representatives you want a higher minimum wage? ...Or are you also one of those who thinks that minimum wages are counterproductive and will necessarily be inflated away (despite the fact that many locales, in and out of the US, already have higher minimum wages, and are thriving for it)?