I find the tipping system empowering. It's all too often that I'm in a country where tipping is not the custom and there's nothing I can do about poor service, aside from cause a big scene.
A good waiter/waitress adds a lot of value to the overall dining experience. Very often, I ask for recommendations and ask questions about the menu. Tipping is great because I can determine what I want to pay for a the service I received, after I received it, and without negotiation.
OTOH, what I cannot stand are service charges. In places such as Singapore, service charges are often added to the tab automatically. To make matters worse, servers are often uninformed and unpolished.
I also don't understand positions like the OP's. Why patronize restaurants that he knows follow a tipping system, and then refusing to do so? If he really hates the system of tipping and wants the owner to change it, why are you still giving the owner money?