The human experience is quite a complex thing to try and conceptualize, let alone describe. But we do know that a critical part of being human is to be social. Our ancestors developed these traits as a survival strategy in pre-historic times, but these hard-wired instincts still live within us today and inform in large part how our societies function.
Enter a pandemic like COVID and its attendant stay-at-home orders, widely adopted across the world and you deprive humanity of what makes it human. It wasn't more palpable than on a recent group call I was on with a few friends, the first few minutes of which were spent venting about the latest reinforced stay-at-home orders that had just been announced and soon to be enforced by our Supreme Leader™. The sense of disgust and uneasiness about being treated like babies and asked to observe rules that at best, were utterly confusing and made no sense whatsoever was so thick that you could almost taste it. To add insult to injury, elected officials uttering thinly-veiled threats was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Upon realizing that I wasn't alone in feeling like this, I unscientifically polled a couple of dozens of people around me about the current state of affairs, it turns out that none of the people I talked to seem to be able to make sense of what we're currently experiencing, let alone cheerfully obey these rules as if they made sense. No matter which philosophical or political beliefs these people subscribed to, the exasperation was unanimous.
When the general population is feeling such intense pressure, our so-called leaders ought to really ask themselves, "Is the cure worse than the disease"? Alas, I'm afraid that it is. Instead of adapting to our constantly evolving body of knowledge, doubling-down on their losing wager, like a gambling addict, seems to be the only policy they subscribe to.
Add to that a wave of complete and utter distrust for traditional media, social media, and public institutions, it can be hard to know where to turn to get information that is reliable, accurate, and trustworthy, as any information going against the official party line, no matter how much hard evidence supports it, is routinely ignored, hidden, or worse, overtly discredited.
Despite this, science still comes to the rescue. While it's impossible for us mere mortals with an already busy life to pore through all the data, studies, and papers, there are smart people out there, experts in their respective fields out there who do most of that work for us. If one knows where to look, that information is available, coming directly from the source.
It turns out, although that should really be no surprise, that there is no real science behind most of the policies that have been implemented to fight COVID (detailing all of this would take too much space here, but I'm happy to share some sources with people who want to learn more). Whether it's deliberate or incompetence I don't know, but I don't think it matters that much.
My point is that you don't have to take what you're told by your wanna-be masters at face value and you can form your own opinion by searching for the information that's the least likely to be biased. When elected officials speak in thinly-veiled threats to the population, you can decide for yourself if these nonsensical rules are worth breaking. I personally think that if we're asked to do things that are harmful to ourselves and our communities in the long term, it is our moral obligation to break said rules (but if you do, understand that you're doing so at your own risk).
It's important to note that I'm positively not advocating for an immediate return to our pre-COVID habits, nor to kiss frail grandmothers on the mouth and put them unnecessarily at risk. But between that extreme and the other end of the spectrum, there is a multitude of perfectly reasonable solutions that would allow us to keep our most vulnerable safe while allowing the majority of the population that is not at significant risk from COVID, to live a near-normal life with few major impediments, giving you a break from your unruly children who are among the most affected by this, from a developmental perspective.
Doing so with or without permission is a moral dilemma that I can't solve for you, but caring for ourselves is the most important thing we can do right now (exercising, eating well, good sleep, and socializing are the most important aspects of self-care), and if that means running afoul of the law, so be it.
What matters, is that you spread the word when you smell bullshit, call the people responsible out and hold them accountable. The first step in that process is to ask for evidence of what you're being told when your BS detector goes up and not relent until a satisfactory answer is given. Remember, sunlight is the best medicine.
I light of all this, I remain strangely optimistic owing to humans' uncanny ability to survive crises. Ingenuity, resilience, and creativity will eventually lift us out of this morass, but if in the process we can avoid unnecessary suffering, why would we even consider causing such harm?