We're living in the "whatever" world

According to witnesses the suspect who was allegedly responsible for the death of one man and serious injury to seven others in knife attacks in Birmingham in the early hours on Sunday was overheard making a remark as he wandered down the street while people shouted that someone had been stabbed. It was only one word. "Whatever". Well this suspect has now been arrested, so the less I say about that remark the better for legal reasons. But as a word it seems to sum up a helluva lot of what is going bad these days. The thousands of younger people who have flown off to Greek islands and frollicked in huge crowded numbers on the beach at night drinking and carousing didn't seem to care less about the possibility of catching coronavirus as they enjoyed themselves all night. Weren't they worried about the virus spreading among them? Whatever, seems to have been their general reply. Now the whatever brigade is going to be returning to the UK and will be obliged to spend two weeks in quarantine because the UK government has named five Greek islands where Covid-19 is rampant. Quarantine? Whatever. As for the government's appeal for everyone to go back to work in order to save the shops, restaurants and cafes in our towns and cities that rely on commuter trade, the response so far seems to be the same. Whatever. Working from home is fine thank you, it means you can watch the cricket/football/golf/East Enders at your leisure while doing the odd bit on the computer. But people's livelihoods are at stake!! Whatever. Taking it to a higher political scale. Trump and Putin are both whatever men. Boris too in some respects, especially when it's about Brexit and the likelihood of no trade deal with the EU. The virus is rampant in the US but Trump wants everyone to ignore it and get on with earning money for the country. Virus? Whatever. Putin is told the world is outraged at the Novichok poisoning of Alexei Navalny, his hated opponent. "Korochi", Putin may have replied. Whatever. It was nothing to do with him after all.