Yes, you've misunderstood Lightning completely in the same way most people quote semi truths about Bitcoin that make it seem wrong or stupid.

Run a node for a while, they are easy to run and will help you understand how powerful they can be.

Also, don't forget there are paper Bitcoin options emerging now like Cashu (not the fake Bitcoin trading meaning of paper Bitcoin).

For offline communities, it is possible to have printed notes that can be exchanged infinitely before they obtain final settlement on chain, which you may never need to do.

Also mints, which are private communities. These do require trust models, but can be useful for organisations or groups where trust is already built in.

There are so many options for so many different scenarios. It's worth your while exploring them more.