i don’t agree with the article but i think there was a big urban/rural divide in poverty. Sure, Damascus was doing great but I think a lot of the rebels came from outlying areas

According to the original post, the economy not working out for rural syrians was a thing back then. Look at China, they put up with the CCP because the economy continues to do well for most. Communists have a strategy where they appease/convert the rural working class first and then cities natually fall, they do that knowing cities only function because rural people let them.