This is what is being missed in the centralization fear mongering. Because of the way Bitcoin is structured even with further centralization it is still relatively easy for SPV light wallets to verify for themselves the validity of a payment to an address they control. The two ways to attack this are either 1) block re-orgs which require 51% style attacks or 2) creating false header chains (hard) plus making sure the SPV wallet can not connect to a single honest node (very hard).
I'm actually fairly annoyed that I have to be the one to create and publish a realistic and accurate Bitcoin threat model, because trying to create a privacy threat model is enough work on its own, and there are plenty of #bitcoin-wizards who could do as well or a better of a job.
Plenty of people have the ability put out accurate and objective information that could clear away the FUD and let us have a rational debate, but nobody else is apparently willing to do so.
I think plenty of people have been doing so. The problem is since their is no "Bitcoin organization" none these accurate voices are speaking from any position of authority and instead just get drowned out. And if you view the core devs as the closest thing to a Bitcoin organization, then the fact that some of them are the ones spreading FUD makes it twice as hard.
It is very admirable that Satoshi stepped back after Bitcoin got going (and has yet to cash out his coins). However I think it would have been much better if as he was leaving he wrote and communicated what he thought the long term direction should be along a variety of aspects. For example from his writing I think he took it for granted that he thought the 1MB should be raised over time and that bitcoin should be structured so that most people could work directly with the MC. A simple 5 pages could have communicated a lot. None of it would be binding and he would have stated that this is what he wanted but people now decide. But by doing this it would later be easier for people to refer back to the original vision in a clear manner.
The problem is Satoshi left without explicitly clear long term direction. The result has been schism over how Bitcoin should evolve. Personally I am fine with that because it makes it harder for change Bitcoin at all, but the problem is there were a few basic changes that were needed to achieve his vision that now are hard to do.