I think I can say that I'm an "OO proponent", so I'll try to address some of the issue raised here: w.r.t "sloppy thinking": The author wrote: "Perhaps there is a way to reason about the correctness of object-oriented programs in a non-operational way, but I have yet to see it. " Have you read about Design by Contract? Bertrand Meyer's OOSC book is a classic in that area. It is a non-operational way of thinking about OO.

Regarding "Conceptual overhead", I think it comes down to a question of appropriate design. I grant that OO is mainstream and on the mainstream there is a tendency towards overengineering (usually borne out of insecurity from the develpers), but a good team of experienced and knowledgeable programmers can help avoid this problem.

Lastly, as for OO being advertised as "The only way", I do agree with you. I hope that the future will be strongly multi-paradigm and my current favorite language reflects this: www.scala-lang.org. Check it out.


PS: I don't have an account here, but I'm this guy.