I too think this survivor bias is kind of a key point yes. Also from my experience if I survive a steep learning curve I tend to build an elitarian view of my skills And I have seen this in most developers out their defending whatever it is they do. If you put your blood, sweat and effort into something it will stay with us. (I have seen this attitude also in others during countless flamewars on usenet when discussing the right editors, linux flavors etc, LOL ... and nobody really spends years studying something that was really hard and then gives up on it without defending it. There is just too much (self-)conditioning in the process of acquiring the skill.

In the end people will always choose the tool they're most comfortable with, whether it's the right tool for the job or not. I have no problem with this because, if there are not enough C experts in the team to maintain the project, it would be a good enough reason why a high-level language becomes the "right tool for the job".