Hogwarts Tuition

[shadowfireflame]

I read the web-comic xkcd pretty regularly (though I don't always understand it!), and today there was a great post called Money. Among other things, it lists the tuition for Hogwarts!

Wow, no wonder the Weasleys were so poor, with a 7-year Hogwarts degree being $301,000. So tuition alone for their kids was more than $2 million. Turns out Draco was right to make fun of them. :)

But also the chart is unbelievably entertaining...and scary. For example:

The US's 400 richest people have a greater combined net worth than the poorest 50% of the country.

It also seems that the world GDP is about $63 trillion, but world debt is about $47 trillion, which is actually considered an underestimate. Meaning that it's virtually impossible to pay everything back. Therefore...total world economic collapse? Seriously, is there any other option here?

EDIT: oh my God, the level of debt is worse than I originally thought because it only includes public debt. And we all know how Americans are up to their eyeballs in private debt. I guess in short it just shows how financial institutions and the military industry are controlling the money. In case you didn't already know.

It makes all those Occupy Wall Street protests seem kind of tame...

Also, what on earth is up with our institutions of higher education recently? First the nightmare of the Penn State child sex scandal, now peaceful protesters at UC Davis are being pepper sprayed for sitting quietly on the ground?!

Comments

[appleling.livejournal.com]

...no wonder the Weasleys were so poor, with a 7-year Hogwarts degree being $301,000

*gasps* OMG! Converting that into my country's currency'll be like 900,000+ for me! (Assuming that the $301,000 is in USD because if that's in British pounds, it'll be even more) I'd even poorer than the Weasleys!

I've always found canon Draco brutally honest. More so than Luna because at least Luna does it a polite way. Why? Because Hermione really is a rather bossy know-it-all and Ron's family really is poor, with too many children and Arthur is rather obsessed with Muggles - it's almost like a perverse kink for him, the way he talks about bulbs and electricity and stuff. And the thing about calling Muggleborns the M-word? It just like all other curse words, right? Frowned upon heavily by polite society and heavily insulting. But as for its severity in terms of how degrading it is, that's rather subjective isn't it? Because for example, I personally abhor the word 'whore' or 'hoe' because I find it super insulting but some of my friends are fine with it.

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

It's crazy! And we never hear about scholarships or anything...and I have my doubts that Gringotts gives student loans--or loans of any sort...So how on earth did the Weasleys manage it? It boggles the mind.

I've always found canon Draco brutally honest.

Exactly--that's why I like him! And more than that, he's correct, too, if cruel about it. Harry's parents are dead, and Harry's really worked up about it. The secret is out about Sirius being a dog. The Death Eaters are coming after the Muggleborns, so Hermione should get out of the forest. Draco serves as a supremely useful warning system.

I've always thought of the "M-word" like the "N-word" in American culture. You just don't say some words or people will think/know you're racist. It amounts to cultural self-censorship. But Draco really is racist against non-purebloods and everybody knows it, so why should he hide? It's somewhat refreshing.

[appleling.livejournal.com]

*nods*

This is why, as I tell myself all the time, I should find me a rich man, marry him, kill him and inherit his money. For Hogwarts of course. Should people ask I'll just say, "My letter came late and I need money so *shrugs*".

[shadowfireflame.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, that explanation works so well! And I died laughing at your icon! :D

[appleling.livejournal.com]

Ah, my cute Harry! And as for my marry a rich man plan, who know's... it might worked. I have a very 'innocent-looking' face too. (psst. i posted a pic of me in my journal today!)