A relieving explanation because it will be really saddening if this has a lot more to it. I have come to see that Indeed one of the biggest things than can stop Bitcoin adoption is its own transaction fee. Imagine if this was permanent, a whole bunch of enthusiasts will stop using Bitcoin because they had no choice.
i don't think we expect transaction fees to just go back down to pre-halving levels. if that happened then miners would be getting paid 50% less. but bitcoin isn't about low fees. thats not why it exists. people seem to get that wrong thinking it exists to help them send money cheaply. unfortunately that's not how it was designed for necessarily. so you have to pay whatever to "support decentralization". that's why it really exists. how much it costs is kind of irrelevant theoretically. get used to that notion as it will be a recurring theme in the years to come most likely.