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.
Seconding this request. I have enough knowledge of theory to argue with liberals, but not nearly enough to do what I actually want to do, which is portray societies and cultures while worldbuilding in an interesting way. I love writing, but all my plots usually just become yet another fantasy (or sci-fi) communist revolution story lol