[refurb]

When the wheels fall off (Sri Lanka does have a history of stability long ago) it’s hard to get them back on.

Sri Lanka’s problems go back decades.

[kergonath]

So, the problems in Sri Lanka now are due to its former prosperity? And at the same time the problems have been there for decades? This sounds like trying too hard to see a pattern. In reality, the situation in Sri Lanka has been awful for quite a while, as you note, and the current discontent has nothing to do with life there being too cushy.

Bad times necessarily follow good times at some point, if only because of regression to the mean. No need to read too much into this.

[ClumsyPilot]

The fallen off wheels create bad times, which create all these stong men, ready to slap the wheels right back on, right?

[refurb]

Exactly. It’s not always the right strong men, but strong men certainly come out of adversity.