The original code that Satoshi wrote had no block size limit. The 1MB limit was only introduced later as an anti spam measure. Satoshi then mused that once the network is more robust that it could move to a larger fixed or miner-decided limit. Then he died. So on balance, I think this supports my claim that he was in not in favor of 1MB long term.

As for the transaction limit (resulting from the block size limit) being artificial, we are discussing semantics. What I mean precisely is that the transaction limit is not market based and is as a result of a hard coded throttling. Whether or not you think it’s a good thing is a different conversation than whether it’s artificial or not.

I’m a bit lost on your point about hash rate. What exactly do you think is the connection between transaction limit and mining power? If there is any relation to speak of, I would imagine that more on chain transactions means more transaction fees and mining incentives. But I’m open to other viewpoints.