As much as I agree on principle, its also pretty detestably asinine to travel to another country and take a stand on their social system by punishing the random employee that served you a meal

Do you think the restauranteur who doesnt pay an adequate wage gives a fuck if you tip their employee? They arent negatively affected at all. If they really wanted to make a point that impacted the person with some control they could just eat somewhere else that paid people fairly. Instead, theyre being assholes to some random person trying to survive living in Kansas City or wherever on a $10 an hour wage in this economy. Thats a dick move, plain and simple