Obviously anyone who chooses not to use a particular macro will not reap the benefits that macro provides. That doesn't change the fact that it's possible to write language-shrinking macros in Common Lisp, and so it's ironic to choose Common Lisp as the poster child for how languages inevitably grow without bound once they reach a certain level of complexity.
Indeed. Lisp is a poster child for how you can have one standard put out in 1994, and everything is reasonably fine 21 years later.
I really respect that about Common Lisp: the committee had the good sense (lacking in C and C++ and their ilk) of going their separate ways when they got the job done.
Good sense in a way that is related to good taste, I should add.
