I have no doubt it can be learned, and I've tried to get over the hump multiple times, but still don't feel as comfortable with Rust as I do with every other language I've worked in, even those I've only spent a few hours in.

It's all about tradeoffs, and at a certain point you have to question whether the academic assurances offered by Rust are worth the complexity, given the problem at hand. As I said, it's obviously worth it for some problems, but I don't think it is for all problems. Which is great! I think the world would be boring if there was one language to rule them all.