Since this discussion often returns on this mailinglist, here is a good article.

It focuses on Haskell, but a lot of arguments apply to Smalltalk as well.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2014/04/29/what-do-you-think-is-impeding-haskell-from-getting-mainstream-adoption/?utm_content=buffer1b176&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer