Social parasite is a derogatory term denoting a member detrimental to the rest of society by taking advantage of it.
Soviet Union
In the USSR, which was supposed to be a workers' state, every adult able-bodied person was obliged to work until the official retirement. Exceptions were study and military service. Those who did not work, study or serve were criminally charged with social parasitism (Russian: тунея́дство). The sentence, quite naturally, was labor camps.
Charges of parasitism frequently applied to dissidents and refuseniks. Many of them were people of mental labor (writers, journalists, lectors). Since their writings were against the regime, the state prevented those who struggled against it from employment according to their skills altogether. To avoid trials for parasitism, many of them took unskilled, but not especially time-consuming jobs, that allowed them to continue their literary or research work: jobs of street sweepers, fire-keepers, etc.
The list of those arrested and charged with the crime of social parasitism contains many notable names. Among them is Joseph Brodsky who was sentenced in 1964 to five years of hard labor for being nothing but a poet. In 1987 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
See also
Japan
Parasite singles (パラサイトシングル, parasaito shinguru) is a Japanese expression for people who live with their parents until their late twenties or early thirties in order to enjoy a carefree and comfortable life. The expression parasitic singles is sometimes used also.
