So, all of the posts were mostly helpful and I thank each of you for taking the time to reply.  I didn't recognize that the LN was truly "ready for the game" and I suppose that small purchases (like a slice of pizza or a sandwich) can simply "assume the risk".  To me, this screams that BTC/crypto real can pull this off!

I actually do believe that there will come a time when government's will no longer have the stranglehold on currency that they do now.  The idea of a decentralized blockchain makes a heck of a lot of sense to me and, in the long run, I don't think the banks can stop this from becoming widespread.  Don't get me wrong, they are sure as heck going to try and bring it down and put up obstacles, etc... but - as one Cypherpunk put it - "Just like we now have separation of church and state, in the future we will have separation of currency and state."

I suppose what I am trying to think about is, "What is the best way to get from Point A (today) to Point B (future - cryto-dominated Earth currency)."  I realize that some of you don't think this will happen and I respect that, but I think we are going to see more and more smaller countries go the crytpo route and, eventually, the larger countries will have to succomb or risk being left in the dust.

Consider the following:

1) BTC was initially conceived as an "every-day spendable currency" (and not just a "store-of-value")

2) the BTC Blockchain is intentionally designed (for security reasons) so that a typical block will take about 10 mins to mine

If these 2 principles are accurate, how do we envision BTC being used as (1) while retaining the time limit of (2)?  That is, "How can I spend BTC right this second without having to wait 10 mins for the Block to be confirmed (aka mined)?"  It seems to me as though some other step/intermediary would be needed to make this happen - such as, a different kind of wallet/account (one where BTCs are "pre-confirmed as spendable") or an "immediate spend" alternative crypto with an intentionally faster Block confirmation time (making it less secure).  Are there any other alternatives?  Am I missing something here?  What model do you envision for a world where BTC is the main/only "currency of the Earth"?