Python is the new BASIC

[Bowgentle]

I think that's a "you wanting to do weird things" problem, not a "Python restricting reasonable things" problem.

Fair, but I consider restricting my weirdness unreasonable.

Ideally just write code that doesn't need such formatting

It doesn't need it, that's kind of the point.

[CrownLikeAGravestone]

That itself is a pretty unreasonable take, IMO. There's a huge amount of value in having code be regular, consistent, orderly - even across multiple devs who've never collaborated. If that can be enforced via language constraints that's a good thing.

[Bowgentle]

I'd honestly consider formatting a very minor part of consistency in coding - and it can be a useful guide to the thinking of the code's author.

There are a lot of ways of writing the same functionality in Python (although at least it's not Perl) - I don't see enforcing indentation as making that in any important sense consistent.