That is absolute true about go, but OP is misreading this article: the flagellation is ironic self-flagellation, supposed to be a "hey snap out of it; what's happening to our field?".
What it means is that in some twisted staged of grief, Rob Pike went to acceptance, from "Systems Software Research is Irrelevant, is that what we want?", to "Programming Language Research is Irrelevant, who cares!".
What it means is that in some twisted staged of grief, Rob Pike went to acceptance, from "Systems Software Research is Irrelevant, is that what we want?", to "Programming Language Research is Irrelevant, who cares!".