If ideology is downstream from material reality then why has material reality over the course of all human history begged for a more equitable distribution of resources among its laborers, but no nation has ever ended up with an ideology that made that a reality (China still pending)?

Material reality does influence ideology. In that those who control the means dictate the ideology much, much more often than not, with an occasional revolution that very often ends up with the same dichotomy between owner and worker.

Do not conflate nation with people, as very often a nation is represented by a very thin margin of elites pretending to represent the interests of their “people”. And very often from a failed state comes corpse-picking vultures who understand the economic situation and trajectory their nation is in, and the economic situation they are personally in, and take advantage of it for good reason.

Ideology is only downstream from your perception of reality if that reality is a revolution among labor, not among elites. Last I checked the Soviet Union falling wasn’t one driven by its labor. Its ideology is aligned with its elite material interests, since it’s very much owned by its elites. Barring some occasional theatrics, Putin is not the people’s president. And that’s not because he’s a permanent ruler, I understand the necessity of one in the face of stronger imperialist forces, it’s because he’s a shitty leader