This was written years prior to SegWit and the "Cash" and "Gold" forks.
The open question is: "Did SegWit increase on-chain capacity enough to maintain its availability to the average user?"
My guess is no, but time will tell.
The blockchain would just handle the settlement between massive financial service providers. As these entities are collecting fees, and on chain transactions are a necessity of doing business, they can and will pay far more than you to ensure timely inclusion in a block. When you as an individual have been reduced to a position where you must outbid a 'bank' for space in the blockchain then you have effectively lost access to the blockchain.