Wizard Government was Re: Lousy guardians (was Wands and Magic)

[catherine at cator-manor.demon.co.uk]

No: HPFGUIDX 16006

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., joym999 at a... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Amy Z" <aiz24 at h...> wrote:
> > I think Neville and Harry should band together and demand that 
> > Wizarding Youth Services provide them a decent home.
> 
> Amy raises an interesting point.  The wizard government is even 
worse 
> than the muggle government in many ways.  Completely lacking in 
> social services, even though they are clearly in desperate need of 
a 
> Child Services Agency.  Their educational system seems to consist 
of 
> exactly one secondary school per country -- no post-secondary 
> schooling, and as far as we can tell no primary schools either.  
>And how do they 
> support their huge bureaucracy, anyway?  They dont seem to have any 
> tax collectors.  
 
Why do we think they need a Child Services Agency?  For one thing, I 
think, though I am prepared to be corrected by her, that Amy was 
being slightly tongue in cheek re: Neville.  He has had the benefit 
of an upbringing in a family who obviously loved him, even if he 
exasperated him beyond endurance.

The reason Harry was sent to the Dursleys was, IMHO, not due to lack 
of anyone in the wizarding world wanting to look after him, but 
because Dumbledore didn't want him to grow up as a bigheaded little 
git, who'd had his head turned by fame at a very early age.  Whether 
this was the right thing to do is debatable, but Harry seems to me to 
be a remarkably sensitive, thoughtful, courageous and moral boy, and 
I don't think it has done him much harm in the long run.  Indeed, I 
think that it makes him appreciate the family, friends, money, whole 
life he has even more.  I admit, Tom Riddle may be another case, but 
again, he was being brought up in a Muggle orphanage, who were 
obviously broadminded enough (or at least someone there was) to 
appreciate where Tom was spending the school months of every year.

Also, how do we know there isn't a Child Services Agency, or tax 
collecting?  There is a huge amount JKR doesn't cover in her novels, 
and as she has said herself, if she included everything she had 
worked out, even PS would have been at least 10 times as long.  It is 
likely that there are primary schools, unless you think that children 
either a) learn to read and write by magic  or b)have one of their 
parents stay at home to teach them  or c) can all afford private 
tutors/governesses.  Also, JKR, doesn't say that Hogwarts is the only 
secondary school in England, only that it is one of the best in the 
world.  We know that the wizard population isn't huge - it is 
entirely possible that if Hogwarts is the only secondary school, it 
may be because it is the only school needed to cover the population 
adequately.

Their judicial system is horrendous -- people get life sentences in 
> jail without even a trial, defendents dont seem to get lawyers (on 
> the other hand the merits of a society without lawyers are 
obvious), 
> people get their souls sucked out of them as punishment for their 
> crimes by a simple order of the Minister, etc.  I think the 
Ministry of Magic is in desperate need 
> of reform.

I agree, that the judicial system is pretty rough.  However, another 
perspective is that the main period in issue here is when Voldemort 
was at the height of his power and the aftermath.  The whole 
wizarding community was suffering from paranoia, mistrust and 
hysteria, and it is not surprising that the Ministry reacted in a way 
which is akin to martial law (particularly the suspension of habeas 
corpus which has often, even in England, been suspended during times 
of emergency).
I agree that the way that the Ministry has behaved since has been 
deplorable.  See: Hagrid's incarceration in Azkaban, the trial of 
Buckbeak, Fudge taking the law into his own hands and allowing a 
dementor to administer the kiss to Barty Crouch.  And I agree that 
the Ministry is in desperate need of reform.  But I think this is 
largely due to weak men such as Fudge being manipulated by people 
such as the Malfoys and having a different perspective (emphasis on 
purebloods) and isn't how the Ministry is as a whole.  Look at the 
fact that people like Arthur Weasley work there.  I just wanted to 
make the point that just because JKR doesn't mention something, 
doesn't mean that we should take as gospel that it doesn't exist, and 
that issues aren't as black and white as they can seem.

By the way, I hope you didn't mean your comments about lawyers, as I 
am about to start my training contract in order to be one  myself!

Catherine