The "Scaling Trilemma" is just fancy jargon for admitting LN trades away sovereignty and privacy for speed—and loses on all fronts. Brittleness isn't a "viewpoint" or modular phase; it's baked in: always-online requirements, fragile routing through centralized hubs and state management that invites force-closes, liquidity traps, and surveillance leaks.
Calling it a "Trojan Horse" is spot on, protocols or not: LN's design funnels users toward custodial LSPs and TradFi absorption.

Would on-chain tools like Whirlpool be sufficient for P2P cash without this mess?