I think it's neither an "I told you so" OR a "Take that, you SOB", moment. And it is just the opposite of hand-wringing, which implies either helpless submission or obstinate and reckless knee-jerk reaction.

It's simply a recognition of the fact that there are patterns and forces in nature, many of them out of our control, many which were at one time but no longer, not taken advantage of in time to do any good. Does this mean we should become fatalistic, simply quit and do nothing? Of course not.

What it means is we should recognize those patterns, make allowances for them, mitigate their worst consequences and exploit those that may fall in our favor as best we can. Recognizing we are in trouble, or that we have made mistakes, is not the same as giving up. Failing to recognize and accept those things IS giving up.

The only alternative is to blame others for our own failures and to take personal credit for our blind good luck, which in my opinion, is a recipe for disaster. It will be the difference between being at the top of the heap for another ten years, then collapsing into obscurity, or staying in the running, in the top five for the rest of the century.

At the risk of being trite, "There's nothing you can do about the weather, but you can always trim your sails."