"Just pay a higher fee" isn't a proper solution though, if we would all pay the recommended fee, than that fee would keep on increasing, because there can only be so many transactions in a block, eventually the fee will become high enough that
Nobody claimed it was a 'proper' solution to some problem which was not the topic here. It comes down to whether the transaction needs the priority or doesn't.
Oh, well Core claim it a proper solution. (it's called a dynamic fee market)
So how can fees be off topic here.
We need to know about fees, so as to know if "bitcoin being slow" was user error.
Anyone not "Just paying a higher fee" is at fault "for bitcoin being slow", according to Core.
This is the Core roadmap.
Bitcoin will be slow for user not "Just paying a higher fee".
Indeed, "Just paying a higher fee" is the only solution, bar a block size increase.