Should we interpret your comment as support that it doesn't necessarily matter what the leading political ideology of the country is, rather who is the one enforcing it?
I think what matters most is the culture. It’s much deeper, and much harder to change, than ideology or politics.
Historically, people living here were free, and they were and still are willing to fight for their freedom. They accidentally started WW1 this way, but that’s another story. I think that’s the root cause why Yugoslavia refused to become a satellite state of USSR. And also why the regime here was way more relaxed: the borders were open, small businesses remained in private hands, it was OK to discuss politics, miniskirts were available, etc…
Another reason is west and international politics came in. It was politically beneficial for the west to maintain good relations with Yugoslavia despite the ideology.
A political ideology is only as strong as the society that enforces it. That includes the economic framework and all its superstituous nuances defining feedback loops of behavior being accepted dogmatically as the backbone of a society.
If it aligns with your values, literally, of course it's going to be something you see as true, because questioning it would be too challenging to manage. But there are plenty of intelligent people out there who can afford to question it, and it doesn't imply a breakdown in society. It can imply progress. But only if you want to see things that way.
That honestly depends on whether you can hit the middle understanding that your philosophy on societies and all the fears that are attached as a consequence of an economic loop you believe you have control over are actually true. Lots of people don't have control over it. They aren't stupid or lacking in skill. Assuming they are is flawed. Assuming you aren't being taken advantage of because you've been indoctrinated into believing the economy is the strongest principle defining a society is additionally, flawed.
These things actually matter when the economy is the only thing guiding a society and there is a literal breakdown of morality, ethics, values, belief systems coming from the head. They influence behavior, which influences beliefs, which influences awareness, which influences actions. All of this propagates across all the smaller 'heads' of a society when those are the rules that define and enforce ideologies. That is a breakdown in society and it happens because people have nothing besides finances to hold onto to tell them about their own self. Who wants to feel like a bag of money and then just die? Who actually wants that to be a life?
There is no problem with a hierarchy. Not every person has the experience to know how to lead and not every person has the desire to own that responsibility. There is a BIG BIG BIG problem with it when it sends the wrong message.