| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a food hoard of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here.  Essex first mate Owen Chase. Source: Nantucket Historical Association On November 20, 1820, an angry or confused sperm whale sank the whale ship Essex thousands of miles from any land. The survivors spent nightmarish months in lifeboats slowly starving to death until eight were rescued. One of them, first mate Owen Chase, published a book about the ordeal, which inspired Herman Melville enough to keep high school English teachers busy for generations. Decades later, Chase was caught hoarding food in his attic. People thought he was crazy. But some of us who lived through the pandemic and turned our basements or apartments into warehouses for toilet paper and other dry goods might relate to Owen Chase. Traumas tend to cause lasting changes in behavior. For example, some of us are still hatching swollen nest eggs saved up from all the stuff we haven't bought in the past 18 months. Some of us might be tempted to never let go of it. Who knows when the next catastrophe will hit? But maybe we should ignore our inner Owen Chase and live a little, writes Erin Lowry. They don't call it "retail therapy" for nothing. Spending money on stuff, particularly experiences, can be good for the psyche after a disaster. And the threat of another catastrophe might be all the more reason to have some fun while you still have the chance. Practicing self-care is even more critical if you're a Leftover at a job where half the people have Raptured themselves into a different career or early retirement. Teresa Ghilarducci has some tips for how to avoid burnout when you have so few colleagues left that the National Guard has to pitch in. Take all the time off you're owed, for one thing. Maybe a nice boat trip. Just be sure to pack a snack. If your co-worker has quit, it's possible they found better work at one of the Death Star-sized mega warehouses popping up around the country, run by companies such as Amazon and Walmart. These places are paying pretty good wages lately, Conor Sen notes, and the surrounding housing stock is much cheaper than in the cities. With some key infrastructure, particularly schools, these could be the nuclei of future "factory towns," reviving that old American Dream thing where working-class people made a decent living. Maybe this meme doesn't have to be as sinister as it sounds:  In the quintessential old-school American factory towns, people made cars. They don't do that as much any more, and even less so in the post-pandemic era, when nobody can find the computer chips modern cars need to function. This decline was inevitable anyway, writes Anjani Trivedi. A greener world is just going to have to be one with fewer cars. At least some of us will be riding PrimeShuttles to our PrimeJobs. Because time is a flat circle, America is once again about to hit the debt ceiling, and people are once again calling for Treasury to Mint the Coin or Issue the Super High Coupon Bonds. Of course, neither thing is very likely. Far simpler would be for Congress to do away with the pointless ceiling. But that's politically difficult and would require some GOP support. Karl Smith has a solution: Democrats could use the reconciliation process to all but eradicate the debt cap by raising it some astronomical amount — say, 300% of GDP. Problem solved! Until 2023. Bonus Advice for Democrats: President Joe Biden's spending plan wastes money and doesn't help people because it just throws more cash at old programs that need reform. — Michael R. Strain The hot new meme investment is buying up unloved SPACs, writes Chris Bryant, who calls this pure, dangerous speculation.  The U.S. needs a much less chummy relationship with Pakistan. — Bloomberg's editorial board Gen. Mark Milley was just doing his job when he reassured his Chinese counterpart. — James Stavridis An SEC rule to make markets more efficient and transparent could have the opposite effect on parts of the bond market. — Brian Chappatta Whoever runs Japan next will have to follow Abe's template. — Dan Moss Reshuffling his cabinet is the easy part for Boris Johnson. What comes next is hard. — Therese Raphael Biden is barely punishing Egypt's Sisi for his human rights abuses. — Bobby Ghosh Supply-chain problems could linger into 2023. How the wealthy use IRAs to dodge taxes. The Great Lakes region won't be a climate refuge. Capybaras are revolting. (h/t Scott Kominers) Missouri cave filled with Native American artwork is sold at auction. Lumber is cheap now. You'll be eating algae soon. The power of the blank email.  Notes: Please send blank emails and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. | 
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