> Tipping is seen in the research on restaurants, as well as in research on
> gift societies, as a perverse form of gift exchange. Perverse because the
> "gift" is one-sided. Paules reaches into research on people who hire
> housekeepers and the origin of small gifts given to maids and other
> domestic service providors. The ritual was and remains one sided: the
> powerful gives the gift and the powerless cannot give back.
>
Didn't Graeber make a similar observation about debt vs. other types of exchange?
There is a small subset of people who don't resist and subvert this power
> relationship. These, apparently, are conservatives - on the theory being
> referenced by the blog author: they enjoy and get a thrill out of living in
> a caste society.
>
This is what reminded me of Cory Robin.
-- Andy "It's a testament to ketchup that there can be no confusion."