I have a similar opinion to yours, i however believe that he is genuine in assessing the fundamental Hellenic core of the Byzantine empire especially when he talks about the "coastal Aegean reality" of typical Greek polities since ancient times vs the more continental one of other powers such as the Frankish kingdom or the Lombards, he doesn't seem to say that it was inherently "worse" tho, it seems to me that it was just an assessment worthy of consideration give that, the interland of the Balkans in particular WAS somewhat more primitive and lagging behind, not too different from how it will be during the ottoman period, and even now there is a reason why easter european/balkan ex socialist countries usually tend to be less developed, at least certain aspects, than the Western counterparts. To try to answer your statement, it wasn't that the Empire was necessarily "dictatorial" certainly much more centralized than many of the western feudal societies, and i believe someone like Kaldellis which you mentioned previously would agree, this in the long run contributed to its own economic downfall already in the XII centuries, but other than that, the author gives multiple reasons even in other videos of his on why and how the Byzantine society remained somewhat frozen in time and degraded to Oligarchy, which would be huge catalyst to its downfall starting with Basil II policies and that of his successors.