saying that all languages have issues is definitely painting things with a broad brush. Why would I want to use an unmantanable slow language when I can use a fast maintainable language.
Ruby's slowness is often mentioned, but Ruby is quick enough for many situations. I am very productive in Ruby and servers are cheaper than developers so for many purposes it works out just fine. I have tried Phoenix (Elixir) and I found it too verbose and complex to work with. I am sure though that others love it, so to each his own.