I am asserting that (a) Rust has made a good choice to be a 'manual memory management' language, and that (b) it has executed that well (or at least better than

I am asserting that (a) Rust has made a good choice to be a 'manual memory management' language, and that (b) it has executed that well (or at least better than any other option). Your phrase about 'painting itself into a corner' implies you disagree with point (a), and that was the case I was trying to make.