Really? The cognitive dissonance is something else here

There is a huge difference. Even custodial lightning allows you to participate in the Bitcoin economy. It allows you to interact with fully sovereign merchants for example. It gives you more options. And optionality is a form of freedom.

This is just not true at all in any regard. Custodial lightning is still miles ahead of anything else even if it has its flaws.

Try signing up for PayPal and someone pays u through with it. You would have to wait for at least 2 weeks before you can withdraw your money since it is a new account. Let's be honest with our comparisons pls

Options are good *for people.* The problem with custodial lightning is not that people shouldn't have access to options. The problem is that people want the promise of decentralized lightning to work and it doesnt, so they post rationalize custodial lightning. Its sunk cost fallacy more than anything. The nefarious ever present "they", those that seek to take away our options, love to give us options that enable them to take things away later. Custodial lightning *will* devolve into fractional reserve banking entirely. If it can happen it will happen and incentives are outcomes always.