social parasitism

From the 1964 trial of Josef Brodsky by the Communist Party. In a rare move, Brodsky was allowed to testify on his own behalf in court – a move later much regretted as notes were surreptitiously made and through samisdat networks the transcript made its way West

Judge: And what is your profession?

Brodsky: Poet. Poet and translator.

Judge: And who told you that you were a poet? Who assigned you that rank?

Brodsky: No one. Who assigned me to the human race?

Judge: And did you study for this?

Brodsky: For what?

Judge: To become a poet? Did you try to attend a school where they
train [poets] . . . where they teach . . .

Brodsky: I don't think it comes from education.

Judge: From what then?

Brodsky: I think it's . . . from God.

The conclusion - five years of internal exile in the Arctic Circle.