No, humans can't, scholars can. Most humans could learn historical materialism to the level they could pass a course on it, but the vast majority can't apply this type of analytical lens in practice.
It's a matter of disposition, the ability to look at a situation from multiple angles and question your beliefs about it isn't something that can be taught, only learned. You can walk someone through it step by step over and over, even train them to go through a process when prompted, but without a certain disposition they'll never actually use this ability without promoting
Obama wasn't a progressive, he just sounded progressive. He had a mandate, a majority in both houses, and what does he do?
Continue everything the last guy did, pass the healthcare plan from the creators of project 2025, and attempt to "reach across the isle" towards people openly racist towards him
If we had another Obama, we'd just be putting fascism on hold for another 8 years. We can't keep splitting the difference with the far right