Once you learn how to understand and apply historical materialism and break out of capitalist canards like the myth of barter, it becomes much easier to come up with the things that make societies feel evolving, nuanced, and alive: internal struggles, subcultures and countercultures, political movements, economic bases, social mores and customs. That, plus having a variety of real-world examples to draw from to avoid falling into the trap of capitalist realism.
Haha nice, these days when my lib friends ask me what am I doing outside work, I tell them I’m studying worldbuilding irl. They’re like thats awesome, give me some recommendations and I send them texts on Mao’s people’s communes lmao!