There is an EIP that is slated to land in the upcoming hardfork that adds an EVM opcode for effectively "const" call that is enforced by the runtime:
https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/pull/214/files
There are also proposals out for a number of the issues you have mentioned. I believe that people _do_ want to make Solidity into a better language for safe code authoring, but some things require EVM changes which requires a hard fork, and other things simply require time (discussion and engineering). The impression I get is that at this point there _are_ some voices of reason involved in the Solidity language process, but it will take time before those voices can enact all of the changes listed here.
Also, keep in mind that when Ethereum launched it did so like any scrappy startup, with an MVP that was "good enough" to move things forward. Now that Ethereum is a leading contender in the blockchain race it is starting to have to pay for some of those early decisions.
There are also proposals out for a number of the issues you have mentioned. I believe that people _do_ want to make Solidity into a better language for safe code authoring, but some things require EVM changes which requires a hard fork, and other things simply require time (discussion and engineering). The impression I get is that at this point there _are_ some voices of reason involved in the Solidity language process, but it will take time before those voices can enact all of the changes listed here.
Also, keep in mind that when Ethereum launched it did so like any scrappy startup, with an MVP that was "good enough" to move things forward. Now that Ethereum is a leading contender in the blockchain race it is starting to have to pay for some of those early decisions.