Making reading a daily habit was one of the best thing I've done. I used to avoid reading books like plague, but by reserving some of my time daily to just read helped me get used to it.
I recommend pretty much anything from Michael Parenti, but my favourite so far is Inventing Reality. I find his books also to be easy to read, which might help.
Btw if you'd like to change your doomscrolling habits into doomreading, The Divide by Jason Hickel goes into unequal development and ends talking about climate change, and how doomed we are.
As a Finn I literally got told in school that Winter War was a "defensive victory" for Finland.
I've been seeing videos from Sabbatical. He's from the US and seems to understand China from a typical anticommunist worldview, but he's most likely well-meaning and respectful of Chinese people and culture.
Russia asking help from North Korea was always less about Russia being desperate and more about 2 sanctioned countries finding themselves in the same team. Ukraine has been asking help too, but media does not interpret that as being desperate.
The developing/underdeveloped countries have been made reliant on foreign investment trought colonialism and coups, making them have no choice but to agree to loan terms. These terms ironically strip away the same ways to develop that modern rich countries used to develop themselves, like high tariffs and infant industry protection.
By market logic the poorer countries then have to compete for investment by cutting wages and social programs. The rich countries can instead subsidise food production, enjoy safety nets and bail out their companies in economic downterms. This doesn't even touch the unequal exchange between the poor and the rich.
Stepping out of line is not an option. The IMF, World bank and WTO have made that clear
The Finnish Communist Workers party has a similar take. They do say that multipolarity is a good thing, but call Russia and China imperialist.
