The Nature of Galleons

[ohnooboe]

No: HPFGUIDX 117920


        Pardon if I've already made this post, or if we've already 
beaten it to death.  Since the beginning of the series, I've been 
questioning the nature of money in the WW.  We are told that the 
Weasleys are a poor family and the Malfoys are rich.  These socio-
economic dividers DO exist in the WW, but why?  We've seen NUMEROUS 
examples of how magic supercedes money.  Below are some (long winded) 
examples.  I don't have any books with me so I can't reference them 
but I'll do the best I can. 

  	The Weasleys are a poor family.  This we can see from the 
state of their robes, the slapdash engineering of The Burrow, etc.  
But why are they poor?  Let's look only at the purchasables that 
fulfill physiological and safety needs...thank you Maslow...(I'll 
throw that in there so if the principal comes in I can say I'm 
writing for a scholarly journal! :)  

        Food-It seems that food isn't all that hard to come by in the 
WW, even without money.  In fact, at one point "a creamy sauce" comes 
pouring out of the tip of Mrs. Weasly's wand and into a pot.  
McGonnagal conjures sandwiches and cookies out of nowhere.  Food just 
appears all over the place but where is it coming from?  In the Great 
Hall we know if comes from the kitchens below; however, in these 
other circumstances are these people actually moving food from one 
place to another (we've seen no evidence) or is it actually 
being "conjured from midair"?  If so, why waste the galleons on a 
joint of mutton when you can conjure the stew?

        Shelter-The Burrow seems to be held together only by magic.  
Hogwart's, we've speculated (or been told, I can't remember!), grows 
with the times, perhaps starting as a much smaller castle.  Why, 
though, are some living better then others?  Again, it seems that if 
chairs can be conjured from mid air (and entire Quidditch stadiums? 
GoF) why not homes?  Or, save that, pieces of homes.  Perhaps 
transfigure the dirt floor into a lovely parquet floor (though, I 
can't stand parquet!)

        Travel- Why is this an issue?  Well, apparation is free, that 
we know of.  Though we don't know the price, a handful of Floo Powder 
will seemingly take you anywhere that's hooked up to the Network.  Is 
this an international Network?  Intercontinental?  If so, that's a 
lot of travel for the Galleon!  Brooms are expensive, but even a 
slightly shoddy one will get the job done and once you have it, how 
much maintenance is involved?  No fuel, no oil, etc.  How about large 
party travel?  In the RW, that can be rather expensive, planes, 
trains, buses, etc.  Though, we've not heard of any British Broomways 
with outrageous round trips, we DO know that the Portkey is a good 
method of sending many people a long distance.  It also seems that 
the only fee for Portkey travel is for the object used as the 
Key...and, really, how many galleons can an old shoe cost?

        My point is that magic takes the place of MANY of the things 
we, as unfortunate Muggles, are paying for.  Electricity, gasoline, 
natural gas, etc.  It's possible that taxes are paid to the MoM, but 
we don't know.  Food can be created, travel is easy to come by, and 
even shelter can be made.  No one has a monopoly on magic.  
Commonwealth Spellison and Ameri-charm aren't charging a sickle a 
spell (so far as we know...and for all you Brits, that was RIGHT 
funny! :)  Magic is not a non-renewable resource; it's there in 
abundance and for the taking.  So many of life's necessities can be 
created, or had in some way, through magic.  That being the case, why 
the drastic economic divides?  What are we (or maybe just I) missing 
about the nature of money in the WW?

Patrick (who just used his whole planning period to write this 
post...)