SOME THOUGHTS ON FAMILY GATHERINGS

 

I would much rather pen a travelogue or an essay on an everyday, personal event than research and write a political commentary. Journalism is overburdened with too many of the latter and too few of the former. The truth is, personal essays are more fun to write.

For those familiar with the timeless works of Mark Twain, he appears to agree with me. In addition to his famous novels and political criticisms, Twain was a prolific essayist that covered his travel adventures, philosophy, literature, and humor, all based on observations.

Our recent family sojourn to Chincoteague, Virginia provided some new material for an essay on family gatherings. In anticipation of this task, I made notes during the week (excellent accommodations, weather, and seafood) and sought advice from two of my editors who were part of our assembly, (my spouse and her first cousin) to whom I owe a debt of gratitude.

Family gatherings have always provided a fertile platform on which to write a book, play, or movie script. One of my favorite novels, The Corrections, written by fellow Swarthmore graduate, Jonathan Franzen is a great example. This award-winning novel is a perceptive and darkly humorous look at an aging Midwestern couple. They desperately attempt to gather their dysfunctional adult children for one last holiday meal.

In the live action play and movie categories featuring family gatherings, it is hard to top August Osage County, by Tracey Letts. We saw the original on Broadway and enjoyed the movie version featuring Meryl Streep as the Weston family matriarch. Her brood, scattered across the country, is forced to reunite at the old Oklahoma homestead after a family crisis. What follows is a tragicomedy that showcases three generations of dark family secrets.

There are many other examples. Home for The Holidays, directed by Jodie Foster is a fun, chaotic movie involving the clash of personalities at a family Thanksgiving reunion. Knives Out, starring Daniel Craig as the impeccably dressed detective, solves a murder mystery following a tense family gathering to read the will of a wealthy mystery novelist.

Our coming together on Chincoteague Island did not involve any of the intense tragedy or comedy of the above paradigms. It did provide a week of insight on aging, relationships, and the open trading of information, based on our pre-retirement careers.

Unlike gatherings in previous decades, each year we come together now reveals signs of aging. All of us are over 70. The phrase “please repeat that” seemed to be uttered in every discussion. The group went to bed earlier, woke up later, took more naps, and scheduled fewer hikes than ever before. Our beach sitting was accommodated by high director’s chairs rather than the low-slung variety. Pill bottles were everywhere. Each time we left the condo, someone forgot something.

There was a new member of our party that added an upbeat element to the week. We were eager to show him our favorite eateries and activities on the island, which now felt rediscovered. His first close-up view of the famous wild Chincoteague ponies was a joy to behold. Eagles, ospreys, and oyster-catchers completed the experience for him. The jury is still out on his first raw oyster.

It became obvious as the week progressed that a gathering of older adults involves more story telling than a typical family gathering involving younger adults and children. My spouse and her first cousins re-lived their elementary and high school experiences. My best friend from high school (now married to my wife’s first cousin) and I did the same with our many childhood misadventures. The tales from New Jersey tended to be spicier than the ones from Washington County.

My friend from New Jersey is a retired engineer. I was able to review with him our upcoming home improvement projects. He had many excellent suggestions. We brought our new, baffling telescope, and he carefully explained how to reassemble and operate it.

The same friend had a number of estate issues involving his child and former wife that needed immediate attention. My knowledge was helpful in working through each of the legal matters.

Meals are the heart of family gatherings. Our dinners at the condo and around the island provided ample opportunities to further reminisce and to celebrate a birthday. I have rarely laughed so hard or as often. During the day, each of us felt free to go off on our own for some self-reflection.

Compromise was essential. I like to plan each hour of activities while most of the others were more spontaneous. I learned to step back, stop thinking, and to start enjoying. Making the most of the moments and “going with the flow” were important “mental medicine” for me. I compelled myself to let two cousins plan our boat excursion around the island. They took personal ownership and provided our best memories of the week.

Of course, not everything went according to plan. As we loaded into the bigger, brand-new vehicle for the beach, the battery had died. After an hour of researching dealerships, repair shops, and possible reasons a new battery would go dead, a good Samaritan on vacation saved the day. He had a portable starter that worked when our jumper cables failed.

New stories were created for next year—if we can only remember them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PENNSYLVANIA COAL MAKES A COMEBACK

Pennsylvania has experienced a long and varied relationship with coal. Bituminous (soft) coal was first mined in Pennsylvania at "Coal Hill" (Mount Washington), across the Monongahela River from the city of Pittsburgh.  By 1830, Pittsburgh consumed more than 400 tons of bituminous coal per day for domestic and light industrial use. As the industrial revolution gained momentum, the anthracite coalfields, or “hard coal” of eastern Pennsylvania, captured new markets.

Bituminous coal contains more volatile matter and moisture than anthracite. It generates more smoke and ash when burned. In recent years, bituminous has been used primarily as fuel for electric power generation and in industrial manufacturing. Today, bituminous mining operations remain active in 21 counties in Southwest Pennsylvania.

Because it is nearly pure carbon, anthracite is hard to ignite. It burns slowly, longer, and cleaner than bituminous coal. Historically, anthracite was used for residential and commercial heating.  Its modern usages focus on metallurgy, and water filtration as activated carbon. It is most often the type exported to other countries. Pennsylvania’s anthracite region is located in six counties in Northeastern Pennsylvania. This area contains the only reserves of anthracite coal in the United States.

As recently as 2022, Pennsylvania remained the third largest coal-producing state in the nation. According to COAL.ORG, in Pennsylvania the coal industry supported over 17,000 direct and indirect jobs and contributed billions of dollars to the state’s economy. The coal industry’s slogan was “Coal Powers Pennsylvania.” The claim was that “coal’s ability to provide baseload power was unmatched by any other fuel source.”  

Since 1938, we have known that there was a dark side to using coal. When fossil fuels are burned, they release large amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases trap heat and cause global warming.  Global temperatures passed the critical 1.5°C milestone for the first time in 2024. Warming above 1.5°C risks further sea level rise, extreme weather, biodiversity loss, species extinction, and food scarcity. Scientists believe that continued warming will result in worsening health and poverty for millions.

Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel of them all. It is responsible for over 0.3°C of the 1°C increase in global average temperatures. This makes it the single largest source of global temperature rise. Pound for pound, coal emits more carbon dioxide than any other fossil fuel—generating roughly forty percent of global emissions from fossil fuel use.

 

In an effort to clean up the environment and combat global warming, federal regulations have consistently reduced coal use by enforcing stricter limits on pollution. For decades, these rules, combined with market shifts toward cheaper natural gas and renewable energy, accelerated the retirement of aging coal-fired power plants.

EPA standards under the Clean Air Act require existing coal-fired power plants that operate after 2039 to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 90 per cent. Retrofitting with carbon capture and storage is extremely expensive. Many utilities planned to retire these plants rather than comply.

In addition to the environmental concerns, until recently, several other factors hastened the death knell of the coal industry in Southwestern Pennsylvania. First, plentiful natural gas became the dominant energy source. Hydraulic fracking in the Marcellus Shale made natural gas far cheaper and easier to access. Second, for those utilities that still required coal, bituminous supply in the Western States was far cheaper to mine.

Within the last 18 months, the prospects for coal have dramatically changed for the better.  It started when Trump returned to office. By executive order in April 2025, Trump implemented several aggressive administrative and regulatory actions to revive the coal industry. He cited national security and rising energy demand.

The Trump administration's core actions since 2025 have included (1) using “emergency authority” to prevent coal fired power plants from shutting down, (2) designating coal as a critical mineral and reversing mining restrictions, (3) providing federally backed financial subsidies to support the coal industry, and (4) reestablishing The National Coal Council to lobby for the industry.

Two current events have helped to support the President’s initiatives and have lowered opposition. Energy demand from AI and cloud data centers provided a lifeline to the coal industry. By overwhelming regional power grids, these energy “hogs” have compelled utilities to delay the retirement of aging coal-fired power plants to maintain reliable electricity.

More recently, the war in Iran has triggered a massive supply shock. Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz choked off vital Middle Eastern gas exports. Vulnerable nations were forced to restart mothballed plants and burn coal to keep their electricity grids operating.

In light of the power supply crisis, Governor Shapiro has also taken action to keep Pennsylvania coal operations alive. He has supported an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. This policy balances the concerns of environmentalists with energy grid reliability and economic growth. For the immediate future, he has taken steps to keep coal-fired power plants online.

Following the Trump presidency and the abatement of the factors that have increased the need for fossil fuels, what does the future of coal look like?

According to the think tank Energy Innovation, “Coal-fired power cannot compete economically with clean energy and will continue to lose market share across the United States.

Most energy experts agree that the probable long-term future for coal is a steady, structural decline in power generation, driven by the rollout of cheaper renewables and stricter emissions policies.

FROM POSITIVE “RECONSTRUCTION” TO NEGATIVE “REDEMPTION”

 

When it comes to racism and civil rights in America, hard fought victories have often taken a turn for the worse.  This backsliding has produced policies that hamper the equal rights of African Americans. In 2026, the pattern has been repeated, this time initiated by the Supreme Court.

First, some background on Reconstruction followed by the period known as “Southern Redemption.” Redemption erased much of the civil rights progress achieved after the Civil War.

Britannica summarizes the Reconstruction era (1865–1877) as groundbreaking because “it redefined U.S. citizenship, rebuilt the fractured Union after the Civil War, and attempted to create an interracial democracy. Reconstruction permanently transformed the Constitution and the federal government's role in protecting civil rights.”

 

The National Endowment for The Humanities tells us that, “by 1873, many white Southerners were calling for ‘Redemption’ – the return of white supremacy and the removal of rights for Blacks – and the end of Reconstruction. This political pressure to return to the old order was often backed up by mob and paramilitary violence… The South slipped back toward many of the patterns of the antebellum era.”

 

The Jim Crow era in the South did not formally end until the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954 (making segregation in public schools unconstitutional), the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Together, these legal and legislative victories enforced the 14th and 15th Amendments, stripping state and local governments of the legal authority to enforce segregation. For the first time since 1865, the federal government renewed its dedication to Reconstruction.

The Civil Rights Act outlawed racial segregation in public accommodations (like theaters, restaurants, and hotels). It also banned employment discrimination based on race.

The Voting Rights Act struck down discriminatory voting practices—such as literacy tests and poll taxes. These practices had historically been used to disenfranchise Black citizens. Section 2 of the Act permitted individuals to sue states for practices like drawing up unfair voting districts.

On April 29, 2026 in Louisiana v. Callais, the six Republican-appointed members to the Supreme Court rewrote the Voting Rights Act to eliminate protections it has long secured for minority voters. The opinion makes it almost impossible for minorities to challenge racially discriminatory voting maps.

To understand the history of complicated constitutional issues and the importance of Supreme Court rulings, my “go-to” source is often David Cole. Cole is a prominent legal scholar, author, and former National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). His works primarily focus on constitutional law, civil liberties, and criminal justice. Cole writes often for the New Yorker and The New York Review of Books.

In a recent article in the latter publication, Cole argues that “the Supreme Court’s decision dealt a fatal blow to the Voting Rights Act.” He believes that the court “adopted reasoning that Congress rejected more than forty years ago.” The title of his article is The Second Redemption.

Cole gives us an excellent example of what the Voting Rights Act was intended to avoid. “Imagine a state in which 20 percent of voters are Black and there are ten congressional seats. If the legislature divides the pie so that Black voters make up 20 percent of the voters in each district, none of the candidates preferred by black voters would make it to Congress. White voters would effectively choose 100 percent of the delegation.”

Cole is especially distressed because Congress had no role in crippling this landmark legislation. There was no debate to determine whether these voting rights should be repealed. In fact, Congress has reauthorized the Act four times since its passage and only expanded, not narrowed its scope.

The recent Supreme Court decision, authored by Justice Alito, all but killed Reconstruction for a second time and supported a second Southern Redemption. One third of Louisiana’s population is African American. Under the 2022 redistricting map, following the census, they were only able to elect one sixth of the state’s congressional delegation. A federal court found that the plaintiffs had a right to create a second Black-majority district, and the state complied.

Justice Alito effectively overturned the interpretation the Supreme Court has given the Voting Rights Act in nearly a dozen precedential decisions over forty years. He has set up a new “test” in striking down the second African American friendly voting district. Cole believes that “no one will be able to satisfy the test.” According to Cole, our Supreme Court majority apparently believes “Congress would be a better place with no Black representation from the south, even from states with substantial Black populations.”

What have been the ramifications of the Alito decision? Already, four Southern States are rushing to redraw their maps to eliminate districts with Black majorities before this year’s midterm elections. More will no doubt do so before the 2028 presidential election.

Cole points out that “In the past, the Court has regularly declined to grant last minute voting rights relief. It did not want to create uncertainty too close to election day. But now the majority seems remarkably willing to cause late-breaking confusion.”

Cole concludes “the future is bleak for both minority voters and for democracy itself. The United States going forward will become even more polarized than it is today.”

When it comes to civil rights in America, the battle is far from over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TIME TO BE MORE REASONABLE AND LESS RATIONAL

 

There may be a simple,but ultimately satisfying way of reconciling our deeply held opinions and those annoying opinions of others with whom we disagree. This commentary will explore the use of a positive approach for holding a discussion involving partisan political views. It will provide a method for seeing through the vitriol of tribal politics that are constantly fed by social media’s confirmation bias. To help save our sanity, our relationships, and perhaps even to save our democratic constitutional republic, it is time to be more reasonable and less rational.

In everyday speech we use the words reasonable and rational as though they are closely related or at least pointing in the same direction. In fact, the two words are opposites in many respects. Once we consider the different meanings that are presented by a machine learning chat box, psychologists, and philosophers, we can use the two concepts to measure how we think about our own opinions and the opinions of others.

Google’s Gemini chat box describes reasonable as “The Fair Mediator.” The definition is “Being open minded, flexible, and taking into account the nuances of a situation.” The focus is on “ensuring fairness for all parties.” Its characteristics include “empathy, flexibility, and being sensible.”

On the other hand, Gemini terms rational as “The Logical Optimizer.” The definition is ‘adhering to logical consistency and facts.” The focus is on “prioritizing self-interest and finding the absolute correct answer.” It is characterized by being “cold, detached, structured, and consistent.”

Gemini concludes that “rationality can be cold and unethical while reasonableness forces us to consider the human, moral, and ethical dimensions of a situation. Reasonableness is crucial in social, legal, and everyday human context where rigidity can lead to unfair outcomes.”

Now that the machines have weighed in, what do human researchers tell us about the differences between being rational and reasonable? While investigating this question, studies involving the “dictator’s game” (DG) came up repeatedly among behavioral psychologists.  The classic DG is a task in which one party, the dictator, is provided with a monetary endowment. The dictator is asked to divide this endowment between himself and a passive recipient who has no role in the decision making. The DG thus reflects an assessment of altruistic versus selfish behavior in a hierarchical social interaction.

Should the dictator keep all the money (rational) or share the windfall (reasonable)? Many different variations of the DG have been studied in many different settings.  In one example, when money is earned through personal effort, the dictator feels less obligated to share it. However, if the money is obtained by chance, the expectation of fairness increases.

The psychologist Susi Ferrarello Ph.D. writes in Psychology Today, that “Being reasonable requires a flexible midpoint between rational thoughts and emotions.” She suggests that being reasonable is often more conducive to navigating complex social worlds than being strictly rational, as it balances personal goals with human, emotional, and social factors.

A relatively new interdisciplinary field of study called “wisdom science” focuses on sound judgment and decision making. It examines how people are guided in making decisions when rational and reasonable standards are considered. A study published in Science Advances presented findings from a systematic attempt to compare and understand rationality and reasonableness.

The studies demonstrated that most people understand rational decisions as “preference-maximizing” and reasonable decisions as “balancing one’s preferences with social norms such as fairness.” The study found that this insight has implications for the way people behave as well as how they evaluate the behavior of others. The research also showed that people would rather have a dedicated “rational person” represent their side in economic and social disputes, However, these same individuals responded more favorably to a more understanding “reasonable person” representing the other side in such disputes.

In today’s political environment, those on the left and the right often hold shared contempt for compromise. Those in the middle that call for reasonableness are labeled political cowards or worse. A new book by a well-respected philosopher decides that reasonableness is exactly what we need.

Krista Lawlor, a professor at Stanford University makes her case in Being Reasonable: The Case for a Misunderstood Virtue. The book explores what it means to be reasonable and why it matters for the well-being of our society. Lawlor concludes that “a reasonable person must be rational enough to figure out what is valuable and thoughtful enough to care about what other people find valuable.” She concludes that by taking command over our emotions, and by interacting attentively with others, we can live up to the standards set by our democratic, pluralistic society and the rule of law.

This is a short book that carries a big punch. Lawlor’s ideas amount to a defense of the reasonable habits that make common life in a democratic, diverse community possible. Those of us that think the only rational alternative to being a victim is to victimize others, have missed important possibilities. Lawlor believes that compromise is not capitulation. It is at a minimum, social survival and may lead to progress.

Lawlor finds that reasonable people “assume responsibility for their judgments and grant others standing to challenge them.” As we enter a highly charged election season, this is an approach worth considering.