Can't buy esteem

[Freud]

No: HPFGUIDX 113915

About Molly and Harry - 

Molly bought Harry attractive dress robes because she knows he has 
never had anything nice like that before and will not let them go to 
his head.  And yes, she knows Harry can afford it.  Molly is 
attempting to make up for 11 years of physical and emotional 
neglect.  It doesn't occur to her to make that kind of magnaminous 
gesture for Ron, because she knows he has had her unwavering love 
and attention his entire life.  

I doubt that Molly cared that the dress robe she bought for Ron was 
old fashioned.  Molly is a practical witch and she wants all her 
children to focus beyond their external embellishments.  I also 
think Molly is wise enough to know that Ron cannot buy esteem.  She 
doesn't want her kids to stand out for fancy clothing...she wants 
them to stand out as hard working, down to earth, wizards and 
witches...(as opposite from the Malfoys as you can get!!!)   

Molly knows what is best for Ron, even though it causes her some 
anxiety not to be able to spoil him - but she knows he doesn't 
benefit when something comes too easy to him.  Ron always has his 
heart set on something material...candy, brooms, touristy knick-
knacks, other peoples stuff, and on..and on.   I think his mother 
deliberately resists reinforcing his focus on external prizes.   

Also, sometimes Ron seems to expect his parents to just buy him 
everything without him having to work for it.  The twins had the 
same clothing issues that Ron does, but they figured out ingenious 
(albeit questionable, heh, heh) ways to get spending money on their 
own.  

Ron is too young yet to understand that a person who can buy 
anything they want doesn't necessarily benefit from that experience. 
If he did understand this, Draco wouldn't be able to get his dander 
up so easy by calling his family "poor"...

Remember Lucius buying Quidditch uniforms in exchange for getting 
his son on the team?  Can you imagine what this really did to Draco 
Malfoy's esteem?  Even his own father didn't think he was good enough 
to make it on the team on his own.    

Overall, the contrast between rich and poor wizarding families is 
one of the many fine undercurrents in the story - I think JKR is 
drawing some insight from her own life experiences.  Imagine her own 
rags to riches story.   

So tell me - are there some "wealthy" wizarding families against the 
dark arts?  And another weird observation that is rumbling around in 
my head...

By having the Sorting Hat divide some young kids into Slytherin in 
the first place, isn't Hogwarts essentially guaranteeing the molding 
and shaping of dark wizards?  Why?  Why put young wizards and 
witches who are already pre-disposed to have ethically-challenged 
ideas, into a group where their anti-societal traits are 
reinforced?  Why not expose them to different types of thinking?