This is the C++ trap - you keep piling on more features to the language and then you can answer some criticisms by saying "just use this subset". But this is no

This is the C++ trap - you keep piling on more features to the language and then you can answer some criticisms by saying "just use this subset". But this is not how the usage of programming languages pans out. Programmers can't agree even with themselves (=consistency) about what subset to use, or have accidents with it. And libraries / practices in that PL's culture can't rely on those conventions and subsets, so they can't really leverage the benefits. It's basically inventing your own mini-language with borders drawn in the sand and not enforced by any tooling.