That's fair but Rust has the same primary design goal and yet I find programming in it more ergonomic (despite Rust having a cranky borrow-checker that C++ lack

That's fair but Rust has the same primary design goal and yet I find programming in it more ergonomic (despite Rust having a cranky borrow-checker that C++ lacks). I don't know how much of that is due to C++'s historical baggage and how much is due to a greater concern for usability and elegance on the Rust side, with consequent discretion when adding new features. But I don't think it's entirely the former.