Don't compare Perl with Java, compare Perl users with Java users. The less attraction the language has, or the less positive perception it has, the less people come to the language. Less people then results less good people.

Allow me to be straight, one problem with Perl users, or at least what I have seen on this forum is that, lots of them have their eyes closed, and don't know the beautiful things going on outside. I am not saying that this is true to everyone, but quite a lot. It is fine to defend Perl, especially with the nature of the forum. But if people defend everything about Perl, good or bad, that is suicide.