The Last Great Summer?

Labor Day’s Familiar Chaos Masks a New Kind of Fragility

Labor Day weekend always feels like the closing chapter of America’s summer. Crowded beaches, jammed highways, TSA bottlenecks—it’s a familiar, almost comforting kind of chaos. This year is no exception. Airports are seeing record volumes. Hotel check-ins are steady. Theme parks still smell like sunscreen and sugar.

But that familiar surface hides someth…