The voice in Ben Carver’s head must be an awesome thing to behold.

I imagine the narrator being James Earl Jones, in his rich baritone, telling the story of Starkville’s Ward 1 alderman:

“One man’s courageous struggle against the tyranny of a socialist government that denies citizens their god-given right a chance to contract and/or spread a disease that has killed 211,000 Americans in nine months. ‘Freedom!!’ is his cry. Will anyone heed his plea?”

During Tuesday’s meeting, the Board of Aldermen considered a proposal by Carver to end the city’s mask mandate after Gov. Tate Reeves lifted the statewide mask mandate a week ago.

Starkville, along with Columbus and West Point, have chosen to keep their mask requirements in place.

In a prepared statement, Carver said he believed the initial goal of citizens and governments nationwide was to “flatten the curve,” or minimize the spread of COVID-19. Now “it seems that many of our leaders are all about preventing anyone and everyone from getting the virus,” he said,

Imagine the nerve of those people, huh? Trying to prevent unnecessary deaths? Just who do they think they are?

So far, 54 people in Oktibbeha County have died of COVID-19. Carver apparently believes that number is too low. Surely there are some expendable people out there we can sacrifice so we don’t have to wear a mask. He’s not asking for much, really, just a modest decrease in the surplus population.

Carver’s is an argument we keep hearing: It should be up to the individual to decide whether to wear a mask. But that’s not how it works in a healthy, fully-functioning society. It’s like saying Americans have a right to choose which side of the road they prefer driving on.

When dealing with pandemics, there has to be as close to universal adherence as possible. It’s not like deciding which flavor of ice cream you want.

Individual rights have limitations as a part of our social contract. We are not free to do whatever we please when doing so endangers others. Reasonable people understand this.

The consensus among medical experts is that wearing masks aids in the prevention of COVID-19 cases. That should settle the matter. The cost (inconvenience or, in Carver’s case, a misguided notion of liberty) is small compared to the health benefits for our community.

During the meeting, Carver took off his mask to speak. At other times, he wore his mask below his nose, which defeats the whole purpose of a mask. Those are the acts you typically associate with a petulant child.

I suggest in future board meetings, the board room could be configured in such a way that a card table could be set up for Carver to occupy until he is ready to join the grown-ups at “the big table.”

If there is any good news to report, it is that Carver swayed no one.

Three citizens rose to speak on the topic, but none supported Carver’s call for an end to the city’s mask mandate. Carver’s proposal died for lack of a second by any of the other six aldermen.

One would assume this would be the end of the matter, but you get the feeling that Starkville’s Don Quixote will live to ride yet again, tilting at the windmills of reason, insisting they are really evil giants.

Carver’s is a lonely voice,

And in this case It deserves to be.

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].