... is that programming is an inherently difficult process and cannot be simplified beyond a certain point. Are we at that point with OOP? Possibly not, but I don't think we're too far from it.

Maybe what's "broken" is not OOP, but the "patterns" meme. Sometimes I think we try too hard to force things into a standard pattern rather than building an appropriate one for the problem at hand from first principles. Trouble is that needs a more pure computer science approach than most programmers are familiar or comfortable with.

Personally I think to be a good programmer, you need to have an inherent love of the esoteric and the formal (read mathematical) approach to computing.