TBAY: Weasley Economics: POOR BABY NAPTIME

[Steve <bboy_mn@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51945

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Meg Demeranville" 
>
> ...very huge edite...
> 
> Click (Conclusions) "Ron does present a picture of the Weasleys 
> as very poor. However, the situation just doesn't exist. Instead, 
> Ron is seen as a whiner. JKR is setting him to have temptations of 
> money. 
> 
>  ...somewhat smaller edit...
> 
> --Meg (who really should get back to studying)

bboy_mn who really wishes he could to TBAY, but can't:

Define 'POOR'.

I was poor, but there were people who were much poorer than I was, and
then there were people with nothing who lived in 'out and out'
poverty. So 'poor' is a very vague general word. 

I'm reminded of something one of the Rockefeller's said when he was
running for public office. A reporter asked if growing up rich
isolated him from the people and prevented him from understanding
their problems. His response was something like, 'I know lot's of poor
people, I have several friend who only make $100,000 a year.' I'm
pretty sure he said this in the '60's so $100,000 was a lot more money
back then. Do you see my point?

Ron's family is not dirt poor/poverty poor. Mr. Weasley has a good
job, he has an steady income, he has a house and land that as modest
as it is, appears to have been in his possession for several decades,
so it's probably paid for. They have food to eat and the kids have
some pocket money. Despite all that, they are not very well off. With
that many kids, they have a relatively high cost of living for all the
reason Meg pointed out; ie: growing boys in boarding school. But there
is a big difference between poor as in not being able to get what you
want, and poor as in not being able to get what you need. The Weasley
have a steady source of income, they live modestly, and are able to
get everything they need. But like all kids, there is a big gap
between what kids want and what they need.

Like I said, I grew up poor by almost any standard, but we still had
food to eat. We were still able to welcome a friend as a guest. I had
clothes, most of which I hated. I had shoes, but all the other kids
had white sneakers (Converse) while I wore 'cheapo' black sneakers,
which I hated. We had rickety old bicycles, but bicycles none the
less. We lived in a small house with not enough bedrooms, we drove old
hacked out cars, worn out old funiture,... etc... in short we were
poor. But we were functionally poor. We never needed Welfare or Social
Services. I had what I needed to go to school. I had money for candy
and swimming at the pool. 

The Weasleys are probably better off than we were. They own land.
Their kids go to a nice private boarding school. But I DO KNOW how Ron
feels, and it doesn't feel very good. I had friends almost all of whom
had much more and much better than I had, but I don't think I would
have sold them out for ready cash.

So, I agree the Weasley's aren't poor but they leagues away from being
rich, and they are a long way short of middle class. At best, they are
lower to middle lower/working class. There are countless millions of
people in the US in the low/middle/upper low-working class who raise a
pack of kids and get by fine. But you are mistaken if you think that
they are not poor by some measure. And you are mistaken if you think
they don't feel that poverty every time they go to school, or
associate with their middle class friends.

Personally, I can't see Ron betraying Harry (by some measure of
betrayal) for money, but I could see him mistakenly betraying Harry
because his judgement was clouded by emotions.

Conclusion, the Weasley's aren't poor, but on the other hand they are
poor. It all depends on how you measure poor. Regardless of how you
measure poor, that doesn't take away the pain of being a boy in school
wearing old clothes and shoes, using second hand books, knowing that
as much as you want to, you can never be on the Quidditch team because
you can't afford a decent broom. Knowing that you can never hope to
buy your friend a gift as nice as the one he bought you. Being on the
low end of the functional economic scale is not fun for a kid,
especially when everyone around him is in the middle of that scale.

Just my thoughts on the subject. And yes, Ron really does whine on
occassion.

bboy_mn