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Noam Chomsky says the unvaccinated should 'have the decency to isolate' from community

The National Post reported that MIT professor emeritus and political activist Noam Chomsky said he believes that while unvaccinated people have the right to refuse a COVID jab, they should “have the decency to isolate” from the community for the safety of others.
It said that Chomsky was asked in an interview whether the COVID vaccine should be required when he made the remark. A clip of his response has garnered 1.9 million views on Twitter and been met with mixed reactions.
Chomsky said: “People who refuse to accept vaccines, I think the right response for them is not to force them to, but rather to insist that they be isolated. If people decide, ‘I am willing to be a danger to the community by refusing to vaccinate,’ they should say then, ‘Well, I also have the decency to isolate myself. I don’t want a vaccine, but I don’t have the right to run around harming people.’ That should be a convention."

He added: “Enforcing is a different question. It should be understood, and we should try to get it to be understood. If it really reaches the point where they are severely endangering people, then of course you have to do something about it."
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Speaking on YouTube’s Primo Radical on Oct. 24, Chomsky said that for the unvaccinated people who are segregated from society, how they obtain groceries should be left up to them. “How can we get food to them?” asked Chomsky. “Well, that’s actually their problem.”
The National Post mentioned that the 92-year-old scholar compared the refusal to get vaccinated to people who refuse to obey traffic rules.
He said: “Suppose there are people who say ‘it’s an attack on my liberty to make me stop at a red light. It’s government overreach.’ They don’t want the state to have that power ‘over my private life’ … Well, such people should have the decency to remove themselves from the community."
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“If they refuse to do that, then measures have to be taken to safeguard the community from them.”
Chomsky further clarified his point, using smallpox as an example of a disease where removing someone who is unvaccintated for it from the public would be justified, although he said the coronavirus hadn’t reached that boiling point “yet.”
He explained: “So, I think we should first attempt to establish conventions that will be understandable by people with some moral capacity to try to convince them that it’s your right to refuse to get a vaccine, but then it is your responsibility to isolate yourself so you don’t harm others."
The comments provoked strong reaction from opposing corners of Twitter, ranging from praise to condemnation.
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Chomsky is known to attract controversy from all sides of the political spectrum. In April 2020, he lit another flame when he blamed the U.S. government for the country’s COVID crisis, comparing “the sociopathic buffoons who are running the government” to a gang that “know(s) how to blame everybody in the world except themselves.”
As Washington Examiner also points out , the famed ‘father of modern linguistics,’ while controversially calling for reparations for African Americans, also signed the anti-cancel culture Harper’s letter from June 2020 warning of “intolerant climate” on “all sides.”
Source: nationalpost
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BENEFIT Sponsors BuildHer...
- April 23, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”
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