> Another issue is that commands are utterly unergonomic, requiring lots of rapid Shift presses/releases

Curious. Unergonomic compared to what? Given your comment about separating commands and input language, I assume you’re using a non-modal editor, which usually rely more on modifiers than Vim.

Personally, I haven’t found any ergonomic non-modal editor, where I by “ergonomic” mean no RSI pain even after heavy usage. For me, the fact that editing in Vim is comfortable is its main selling point (more so than its speed).

> mistakes can lead to destructive consequences

I do often make mistakes, but I can’t remember the last time I accidentally did something so destructive in Vim that I couldn’t just undo it normally.