"make even basic tasks sometimes extraordinarily difficult, or so I've heard"

That would be an understatement :-)

But it's a trade-off. You fight the borrow-checker to ensure safe code.

It's really subjective. Are you using a language for front-end/middle-tier service/back-end process, etc. etc.

Back in the day - you had a handful of people writing C code via CGI for web development.

Every good language addresses a problem.

Rust = safe code. Crystal = IMO...productivity.