I think you’ve misunderstood a couple of things. The void* hack exists in C++ because C++ has to be backwards-compatible with C, which means supporting void*. In fact it’s not idiomatic in C++ to use thevoid* escape hatch, because you should instead use templates to model generics.

Secondly, templates in C++ and generics in Java are not ‘dynamic’ features. They are statically checked (at compile time) and you will get a compile error if you use them wrong. Also, generics are not outside of the ‘typical confines of the language’ — they are very much a part of the idiomatic language.

Finally, I understand that generic programming and parametric polymorphism can be hard to grok at first; but if you can understand the difference between a list of int and a list of string, you are capable of grokking them.

I’m not sure how to respond to the bits about ‘type system hacks’ being ‘notoriously error-prone’, and attracting bugs like ‘moths to flames’; unfortunately they are very misinformed and are effectively spreading FUD.