No. I defined what's socialism for me (owning of the mean of production by the workers), and all can see that the USSR and friends weren't that. Then I gave Marx's definition of socialism, even if I'm not Marxist (a mode of production were the usefulness replaced the price as value), and all can see that the USSR and friends weren't that. Thus they're something else, and I used a term that Lenin himself used: state capitalism (which wasn't limited to the NEP). Please stop with your strawmen.
You just wrote, in other words:.“It can't be socialism before the global revolution but that doesn't mean it's not socialism”. Man, even Lenin called his system state capitalism… You're not serious behind your big words, let's stop here.
I'm not Marxist, so that's quite normal. But even in Marxist terms, socialism is a mode of production were the usage value replaced the monetary value. That never happened in so called “communist” countries.
No. Socialism as a mode of production is the owning of the means of production by the workers, not the State. For a worker, it doesn't change anything if their overlords are politicians or industrialists.
Even better!