Yes, it is possible to use lightning with strong privacy, but most people can't. That's issue. Even the biggest retard has very strong privacy by default when using monero.

Or you can hold bitcoin AND spend bitcoin.  Which I do.

Nothing beats running your own Lightning node.  Payments are cheaper, faster, and just as private as xmr when you use Lightning.  It's better, and I don't have to compromise on digital scarcity.  I also don't have to compromise on network security.

I understand your analogy about using other currencies sometimes out of necessity.  But I don't think it maps perfectly to the digital scarcity realm.  That would definitely be a fun rabbit hole to explore here, though, so let me know if you wanna go down it.

fiatbad

monero

Monero territory

expatriotic

Would you ever use cash to buy something privately despite the fact that the dollar is going to zero against bitcoin? Of course you would. Use monero is no different except it's digital cash. You can hold bitcoin and spend monero.