Doesn't Bitcoin scale in layers?
Don't fall for a mutual exclusion fallacy. We can just do both.
Yes, Bitcoin scales in layers, but it scales at every layer simultaneously. Arbitrarily restricting one layer to promote other layers is nonsensical engineering & results from political capture & censorship rather than free exchange of ideas & prudent capacity planning. Nobody has ever said that the Internet should stick to "Layer 1" copper wires (never upgrading to fibre, or beyond) in order to "scale" throughput via software.
It is true that internet technology is structured in layers, as per the famous OSI model. But it does NOT "scale" in layers, there is no level of the OSI model where capacity is constrained to somehow "scale" in a higher layer. It's actually the opposite, no higher layer can exceed the throughput of the layer below it, so every layer is maximised as much as it can be whenever new technology improvements are available.
The BCH community has no objection to Layer 2s, in fact it is very excited for them, it simply recognizes that Layer 1 and 2 are not mutually exclusive. Both need to be innovated & encouraged. The best environment for Layer 2s to thrive is one where Layer 1 access is cheap & reliable.
Refusing to scale L1 is cutting off Bitcoin's nose to spite its face. Source
Limited progress on Layer 2s in BCH is a result of lack of imminent necessity and lack of available resources, it's nothing to do with any kind of ideological objection.
BTC Propaganda
Many Bitcoin Core (BTC) adopters have the misconception (or less charitably, propaganda) that Bitcoin "scales in layers" - meaning a requirement to restrict "Layer 1" scaling such as blocksize increases. They believe that Lightning Network or other "Layer 2" solutions will allow Bitcoin to reach global adoption despite BTC's restricted blocksize.
Most commonly, this idea of "scales in layers" is accompanied by an analogy to the Internet itself as proof that such a scaling model is desirable. This is a complete misnomer - the Internet scaled at the "base layer" (physical hardware) by switching from copper wires to fibre optic cables. In future, as better cable technology and/or new hardware improves wireless bandwith, it will once again upgrade to that. The Internet takes full advantage of improvements in computing infrastructure and to suggest otherwise would be ridiculous.
Bitcoin is no different. Its scaling properties are so fantastic because it benefits from the synergy between improvements in physical hardware capability as well as innovative software development & efficiency (at all layers simultaneously).
See also: Can BCH flip BTC?
See also: What about the Lightning Network?