We need something better than Monero because Monero doesn't scale. Unfortunately nobody figured it out yet.
Bitcoin and Lightning don't scale either So why do you use them?
The difference is massive. It's not even a constant. Monero has to store all key preimages forever.
What does it matter if the end result is neither of them being able to scale? At least with Monero we are more able to adapt to more efficient methods when available and necessary (i.e. Bulletproofs upgrade which reduced tx size by ~80%) or entirely new protocols completely (upcoming Seraphis overhaul)
No matter what you do, you cannot remove key preimages. Zcash has an equivalent problem. In Bitcoin, you don't need any such thing. Just the UTXO set and a few of the last blocks. Bitcoin scales by REMOVING information from the chain, which also improves privacy (LN, Taproot). Monero gets privacy by adding junk to the chain.
Although Bitcoin and Monero might throw similar solutions to many their approaches to the problem are different therefore trying to determine which one is better depends totally on the needs of the person. However let’s be serious here: You shouldn’t compare layer 1 and layer 2. Because to get to the layer 2 (LN) you have to deal first with the layer 1 problems you might encounter on a specific time out of your control, say saturation and/or high fees as lately. Also you are depending on wallets, channels, etc…
Not sure that is entirely true. You can migrate over to an aggregation method similar to MimbleWimble in the future if it ever starts becoming a problem. Consumer tech is not static either, it is constantly getting better, faster, and cheaper. There is also advantages that come with it. You also gain strong default privacy and anonymity without giving up sovereignty for it along with higher fungibility. Yes, but removing that info means it isn't a full node, and that is such a central argument from BTC maxis, that we need to keep everything small so everyone can run a full node. Taproot is actually worse for privacy in certain respects because it makes you stand out from other "normal" transactions. It also enables more junk onchain NFTs on chain by making it cheaper to do.