--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You really do have to wonder whether a…" description: "\"You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of the 21st century — when food prices spiked, energy pri..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/214/thomas-friedman-1784_21st-century_you-really-do-have-to-wonder-whether-a-f_2142630.jpg" --- # You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now… ![“You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of the 21st century — when food prices spiked, energy prices soared, world population surged, tornados plowed through cities, floods and droughts set records, populations were displaced and governments…” quote by Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/214/thomas-friedman-1784_21st-century_you-really-do-have-to-wonder-whether-a-f_2142630.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/214/thomas-friedman-1784_21st-century_you-really-do-have-to-wonder-whether-a-f_2142630.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/214/thomas-friedman-1784_21st-century_you-really-do-have-to-wonder-whether-a-f_2142630.jpg) > “You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of the 21st century — when food prices spiked, energy prices soared, world population surged, tornados plowed through cities, floods and droughts set records, populations were displaced and governments were threatened by the confluence of it all — and ask ourselves: What were we thinking? How did we not panic when the evidence was so obvious that we’d crossed some growth/climate/natural resource/population redlines all at once?” [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage warns that humanity is ignoring clear signs of multiple crises—food, energy, climate, population—yet fails to panic or act, prompting future reflection on our collective inaction. **In simple terms:** We ignore many crises and lack panic. Key Takeaway Recognize and address emerging crises early. Themes environment economics population climate change politics Mood urgent concerned Type political analytical When to use this quote - policy making - community planning - education - activism Key Concepts systems thinking risk management global governance Questions to Reflect On - What signs are we overlooking now? - How can societies respond without panic? A Different Perspective May underestimate human resilience and innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Drought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drought/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Flood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flood/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Natural resources](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-resources/) [Panic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/panic/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World population](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-population/) ## Related quotes > [“It's almost as if Kennedy grabbed a decade out of the 21st century," Cernan said, "and spliced it into the 1960s." That helps to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-chaikin/it-s-almost-as-if-kennedy-grabbed-a-decade-out-of-the-21st-century/) Andrew Chaikin > [Syria is on the back end of basically a decade-long drought. Over the last decade, farmers and herders have been ravaged in Syria forcing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/syria-is-on-the-back-end-of-basically-a-decade-long-drought-over-the/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Life, for the most part, inevitably becomes routine, the random confluence of timing and fortune that configures its components all but forgotten. But every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/life-for-the-most-part-inevitably-becomes-routine-the-random/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [“I'm prepared now to use the wonderful word confluence, which of itself exists as a reality and a symbol in one. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/i-m-prepared-now-to-use-the-wonderful-word-confluence-which-of-itself/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [We will be looking at things like the confluence of a scene, and we still have all these creative decisions to make. In general,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchell-hurwitz/we-will-be-looking-at-things-like-the-confluence-of-a-scene-and-we/) [Mitchell Hurwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchell-hurwitz/) > [You know, one of these things that happened in the '60s and '70s was this confluence of, sort of, a counter-culture with computer culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/you-know-one-of-these-things-that-happened-in-the-60s-and-70s-was/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [“We’ve gotten wind of a confluence.” Apollo set the folder on Quorum’s desk. 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As the crowd thins, the musicians intuitively sense that those few who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-barber/something-special-can-happen-late-at-night-in-a-jazz-club-as-the/) [Patricia Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-barber/) > [Since we have been out of balance so heavily towards the male, it is going to be the feminine energy which will now move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/since-we-have-been-out-of-balance-so-heavily-towards-the-male-it-is/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [Thus I began my systematic though half-bewildered tour of Innsmouth's narrow, shadow-blighted ways. Crossing the bridge and turning toward the roar of the lower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/thus-i-began-my-systematic-though-half-bewildered-tour-of-innsmouth-s/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [I think Chicago people are very special people, and the Midwest's confluence of East Coast-meets-Midwest sensibilities had to, on a formative level, inform me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-sunjata/i-think-chicago-people-are-very-special-people-and-the-midwest-s/) [Daniel Sunjata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-sunjata/) > [What business needs now is exactly what women are able to provide, and at the very time when women are surging into the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-helgesen/what-business-needs-now-is-exactly-what-women-are-able-to-provide-and/) [Sally Helgesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-helgesen/) ## More by Thomas Friedman > [I'm pretty much an open book. I am a fanatic golfer and golf nut. If I have three free hours any day, my first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/i-m-pretty-much-an-open-book-i-am-a-fanatic-golfer-and-golf-nut-if-i/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [The financial crisis just made the hole deeper, which is why our stimulus needs to be both big and smart, both financially and educationally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/the-financial-crisis-just-made-the-hole-deeper-which-is-why-our/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Many jobs at Google require math, computing, and coding skills, so if your good grades truly reflect skills in those areas that you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/many-jobs-at-google-require-math-computing-and-coding-skills-so-if/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Never before in the history of the planet have so many people, on their own, had the ability to find so much information about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/never-before-in-the-history-of-the-planet-have-so-many-people-on/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [When I was growing up, my parents told me, 'Finish your dinner. 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I think it was just the opposite, in fact. I think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/i-don-t-think-the-arab-spring-had-much-to-do-with-energy-i-think-it/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Until we fully understand what turned two brothers who allegedly perpetrated the Boston Marathon bombings into murderers, it is hard to make any policy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/until-we-fully-understand-what-turned-two-brothers-who-allegedly/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Geopolitics is all about leverage. We cannot make ourselves safer abroad unless we change our behavior at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/geopolitics-is-all-about-leverage-we-cannot-make-ourselves-safer/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Big breakthroughs happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately needed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/big-breakthroughs-happen-when-what-is-suddenly-possible-meets-what-is/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [That's right-the striking thing about greenhouse gases is the diversity of sources that emit them. A herd of cattle belching can be worse than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/that-s-right-the-striking-thing-about-greenhouse-gases-is-the/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [There is something more severe than the problem with Thomas Friedman, which can be generalized to represent someone causing action while being completely unaccountable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/there-is-something-more-severe-than-the-problem-with-thomas-friedman/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Pessimists are usually right and optimists are usually wrong but all the great changes have been accomplished by optimists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/pessimists-are-usually-right-and-optimists-are-usually-wrong-but-all/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) [Explore all 208 Thomas Friedman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) ## More 21st century quotes > [The young people today are the 21st century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/the-young-people-today-are-the-21st-century/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [“You know it’s the 21st Century when someone TEXTS you from the washroom to ask you to bring them a roll of toilet paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/comic-strip-mama/you-know-it-s-the-21st-century-when-someone-texts-you-from-the/) Comic Strip Mama > [“I am made of a thousand ghosts. Only you can shoot me down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-james/i-am-made-of-a-thousand-ghosts-only-you-can-shoot-me-down/) Bella James > [Like many others, I have deep misgivings about the state of education in the United States. Too many of our students fail to graduate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/like-many-others-i-have-deep-misgivings-about-the-state-of-education/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Undeniably, character does count for our citizens, out communities, and our Nation, and this week we celebrate the importance of character in our individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/undeniably-character-does-count-for-our-citizens-out-communities-and/) [William J. 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I am the most influential person of this decade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashwani-kumar-ojha/human-race-is-all-over-universe-and-i-am-the-first-person-to-inform/) [Ashwani Kumar Ojha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashwani-kumar-ojha/) > [Like the railroads that brought us together in the 19th century, these trails will bring us together in the 20th and 21st centuries. (at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/like-the-railroads-that-brought-us-together-in-the-19th-century-these/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [What I love about making albums in the 21st century is that so few people buy albums! 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