As much as I loved "Theory Of" I couldn't get through it for that reason.

When I was young, the word "connoisseur" meant someone who loved the workmanship of something but was generally a crank and dismissive of popular versions. Today it only means a super-wealthy collector. Of course, connoisseurs in the classic sense still exist, but commercialism has completely marginalized them.

EVs are classic Veblen. They're symbols of status which are not really useful otherwise (charging times too long, range limited). They're mostly 2nd cars of the wealthy in cities.

I don't believe Trump is Exhibit A. Most really wealthy people don't respect him. He's for wannabe status. Musk, Apple CEO, they're the real purveyors.