There's no one obvious thing that one can point to as a litmus test for whether a society is socialist (or working towards socialism).
You are right that breaking up powerful corporations is not determinative of socialism because liberal states do it to. However, I would argue that it is indicative of working towards socialism, taken together with numerous other pro-socialist policies. The same can be said of policies like redistribution, universal Healthcare, or state owned enterprises, which all exist in liberal states to one extent or another.
To put it another way, I cannot claim that the animal in front of me is a dog only because it has 4 legs because cats also have 4 legs. However, if it has 4 legs, wags it's tail, and barks? Probably a dog.
There's no one obvious thing that one can point to as a litmus test for whether a society is socialist (or working towards socialism).
You are right that breaking up powerful corporations is not determinative of socialism because liberal states do it to. However, I would argue that it is indicative of working towards socialism, taken together with numerous other pro-socialist policies. The same can be said of policies like redistribution, universal Healthcare, or state owned enterprises, which all exist in liberal states to one extent or another.
To put it another way, I cannot claim that the animal in front of me is a dog only because it has 4 legs because cats also have 4 legs. However, if it has 4 legs, wags it's tail, and barks? Probably a dog.
deleted by creator