Contemporary Issues in Planning

One lesson I learnt from the lecture is that consensus building does not only exist in the mainstream politics, but also in other areas of the human life. One specific area that consensus can achieve goals that were previously unattainable is in the development and poverty alleviation. Poverty is usually a result of unequal distribution of wealth where a few people controls large resource bases while the majority remains impoverished. The wealthy then use their power to ensure that the inequality persists through practices that undermine the poor’s effort to gain wealth. The conditions of the poor deteriorate, as exemplified by the Californian farmers. I also learnt that intervention by the government only makes things worse for the poor because the government sides with the rich. Charitable institutions and philanthropists are the only means to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich through discussions in equal participation and avoidance of conflicting issues.

In summary, the lecture elaborates on the process of consensus formation and the issues that should be

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