Since there are a lot of "self moderated" (censored) Lighting threads I decided to open one that is not censored.
Here are the reasons why I think lightning is a failed idea and I would like your input about whether you see it succeeding or not.
1. Lightning is only necessary because the dev team refuses to scale the base layer. No one would open lightning channels if the fee for getting on the base layer was under 1 cent, which it could be today. Basically Lightning is a conflict of interest with what is best for bitcoin users and unnecessary centralization of the means of transferal.
2. The lightning network could be repurposed to be much more usable by dropping bitcoin from it entirely. I have illustrated an idea in 2017
https://web.archive.org/web/20210414170746/https://www.naturehacker.org/2017/10/the-only-100-fully-decentralized-peer.html
that would make it so your "channels" are trusted contacts and each person has their own currency (a database ledger tally of what is owed). This way the parties can settle with whatever currency they want, be it crypto or toothpicks. It does require trust, but only with your direct contacts, and there are no on-chain fees for opening or closing a channel. Such a system could revolutionize the entire world where money is not needed and we can all deal with anyone on earth like we deal with family and close friends.
What are your uncensored thoughts on lightning?
