I don’t want to come across as hostile

no problem

I do find the term “vulgar anti-imperialist” to be a strange one. I imagine it’s supposed to be related to “vulgar marxism” which I can’t personally define but have seen used by people I respect.

It is the same vibe. Basically anti-imperialism that takes shortcuts in analysis - even if it arrives at the right conclusion. It is not something I have seen much of (aside from Twitter and Reddit, where every take is a market niche and you encounter every conceivable brainworm).

The use of the term personally makes me think of the “we want X good thing, but now isn’t the time/this isn’t the way”

I'm sure the liberals will start doing this right away once they learn a new vocabulary word, but there is a key difference. The liberals say shit like this to get everybody to shut their brains off, but actually, now is the time for everybody to turn their brains on and be very thoughtful about what's happening. There is a lot which is in flux at the moment. We're talking about the potential winding down of the petrodollar and unipolar US hegemony on one hand, the potential disposition of a significant counterhegemonic state on the other, or anything in-between depending on how events shake out. A lot of unprecedented events are taking place politically and economically, and now is no time for lazy thinking. That's all I'm trying to stress personally. All of the bourgeois think tanks are working overtime throughout this crisis. We cannot let our guard down.

“vulgar marxism”

OMG there is a word for my tendency!