The fortune of America didn’t happen because of random chance. That’s philosophical drivel. The fortune of the US happened because our political system was built on individuality and freedom, and individuals worked hard to make good things happen under this system. The reason that we have problems currently is because we’ve gotten away from the realities of hard work and sacrifice and have become lazy and complacent. The same is happening in Europe. There are still plenty of people in the US and Europe who work very hard, but the political system has shifted away from rewarding these people, and has instead made them into ‘villains’ of a sort, blaming them for those who have less.
In the meantime, the rest of the world has seen what we have, and they want it. So they are working very hard for it. If their hard work leads them to prosperity and ‘fortune’ it won’t be because some random turn of fate led to this. It will be a direct result of empowered individuals working hard to better their lives.
We can retain our fortune, but it means we have to stop wasting time on crappy entertainment, including getting fat eating while watching a bunch of overpaid immature athletes butt heads on TV, and get down to business. It means we have to again as a society value people who delay gratification so that they can train hard to gain skills. It means we have to again value the production of goods, rather than just the manipulation of other people’s money. Etc....
America's good fortune was not created by "random chance" but by a system created by our Founders that took into account the Natural Law, The Lessons of History and the nature of man.
But our Founders also knew and believed that when any society grows rich and complacent it will forget these eternal truths and slowly chip away at the reasons for it's success. And then the wheel of fortune will turn against that society. It is the Iron Law of History.
That is what I believe is meant by the wheel of fortune. It is not random but rather caused by the inherent imperfection of human nature. That imperfection being a belief that good things will just happen without massive effort and vigilance. That we are somehow owed our place in the world just because we are Americans. A deadly delusion.