[FrankHB]

> Then C++ added new abstraction mechanisms on top of C, that were at first totally orthogonal: just classes and templates.

Not quite. Classes are based on struct types in C. Templates are based on classes, function types, and more.

> As C++ becomes less and less capable of doing these low-level unsafe things (because too many people caused too much damage attempting this), and adds more ceremony to the old ways of peeking and poking memory, it becomes less useful to me.

This is not the truth. It is just never supported in a portable way. And there is no other choice. ISO C is also always lack of that capability (if not more restricted). Nevertheless, you can still rely on the usefulness provided by implementations, as-is.