SmallBear

I've also been feeling this lately. That podcast was what originally pushed me to be ML, but over time I have noticed that they avoid taking firm stances on anything too controversial. I think they still have a bit of value for getting people started, but they also have the risk of getting people stuck in a sort of watered-down marxism.

That's also a common way to say USA in Russian, although it's pronounced "Ssha" (США). Maybe I'll start saying СШАский.

Honestly I think this is the thing I needed to hear. Thank you.

I've noticed that ever since I started learning Russian people seem to trust me less when I talk about politics. As if knowing the language makes me inherently compromised as a source of information/analysis.

In a functioning post-capitslist society, people should be expected to work if they are reasonably able. (I'm not sure if this is really even right wing but I know a lot of people who would say that it is).

That's true. I think broadly speaking it's harder to overcome with liberals though, because they're often less self-aware about having that bias, and not very used to thinking critically about their own perspective.

Appriacte the responses so far, they all seem pretty sound to me. Unfortunately I think that I had vastly underestimated how deep in the muck of western propaganda this particular group is (I just got sent a very long message about the terror of the soviet union and how everyone is still afraid of Russia because of it), so I think I'm not going to put any more energy into this discussion right now.