That's not as easy as it sounds, unfortunately. but if the Lightning Network proved useful to the network then we might see a significant increase in the capacity of bitcoin to handle more and more transactions/second on a global scale. LN aims to unclog the network by taking transactions off-chain, greatly alleviating the heady load on bitcoin's own network.
With the current state of bitcoin and how it handles the load of transactions coming in and out of the network daily, compromises are needed to be done to accommodate all of these problems and to address these issues straight. One way or another, compromises would be made, so in my opinion, LN seems to do more good than harm in the long run.
While LN sounds great in theory, it's unfortunate that it kind of goes against everything that makes Bitcoin (core) what it is today. LN adoption and integration would mean that Bitcoin transactions are no longer P2P.
With the current state of bitcoin and how it handles the load of transactions coming in and out of the network daily, compromises are needed to be done to accommodate all of these problems and to address these issues straight. One way or another, compromises would be made, so in my opinion, LN seems to do more good than harm in the long run.
I truly want to agree with you, but you and I both know that opening these payment gateways leave a risk of centralized manipulation in the hands of larger organizations. Essentially, the only organizations that can afford to run and operate these payment channels will be banks. My hope is that there will be trusted whales of the Bitcoin community that can network together to create this centralized, yet trusted, channel, but chances are that these channels will be left in the hands of greedy organizations looking out for their personal interests, rather than for the greater good of Bitcoin. Classic example? Look what's happened to the miner's fees and transaction fees to the existing chain. While I have huge hopes for LN and its off-chain 'verification', if you will, I think there will be a lot of Bitcoiners that will be weary about trusting these channels.
