Once Python got nested scoping, 'class' became redundant. It's a nuisance not just because of all the selves: say you started with

    def make_window(x1, x2):
        lo, hi = sorted((x1, x2))
        def window(x): return lo <= x <= hi
        return window

and decided to give the window a custom repr. You could write

        window.__repr__ = lambda: '<%s..%s>' % (lo, hi)

but this sort of thing gets less fun the further you take it. So you actually rewrite all of this code with 'self' and '__init__' and it gets much longer and if you're me you conceive an antipathy to classes. What I wish you could write is

    def make_window(x1, x2):
        lo, hi = sorted((x1, x2))
        def window:
            def __call__(x): return lo <= x <= hi
            def __repr__(): return '<%s..%s>' % (lo, hi)
        return window

BTW, 'foo hell' is too strong a term for most real foo in programming -- we don't need more encouragement to split into warring tribes.