When I first found out I was going to be a Daily columnist, I started planning my agenda. I was going to offer bold political statements, lament about the administration and make shallow, fairly obvious Facebook observations (“Hey, what’s the deal with all those groups?”).

I was going to write that one super-influential political column that single-handedly would change the route of political discourse at Northwestern forever.

And then I wrote 500 words about microwaves. Take that George Bush!

Really, I do like politics. I try to stay current. I’ll leaf through an issue of The New Republic or The Economist at Barnes & Noble to make the dude standing next to me think that I’m worldly. But when he’s gone, and I realize that there are no pictures, I’ll move on to Blender.

In all honesty, political debate is a discourse that has become void of sincerity, rendering it either trivial or superficial. I’m a liberal (“and the award for most inconsequential declaration of one’s political beliefs goes to – “), but I’m tired of the baggage that comes along with the term.

Rather than promote compromise or constructive analysis, the name of the game in political debate is distorted and misleading stereotyping. Liberals hate America and Conservatives support blindly sending troops to war are statements exemplifying the out-of-whack generalities that often define political discussion. These are indeed extreme examples, but they present themselves in many different forms in political discussion. When we debate politics, we end up having to defend our own ideology from these mischaracterizations rather than engage in practical and productive dialogue. I wanted no part of this charade.

With politics out of the way, complaints about the caveats of NU were next on the agenda. But as tooly as it sounds, I realized that I like NU. The good outweighs the bad. In 10 years, I won’t remember when I had to wait an extra 10 minutes for a shuttle or when I consistently overpaid for a dining hall meal of Captain Crunch and frozen yogurt.

Now that politics and NU pot-shots were out, I soon realized that I was left with something that proved to be the most plentiful source of column ideas around: nothing.

Too often, we as college students get caught up in the verbal masturbation of the political and social commentary around us. As a result, we lose sight of the little things that make the world entertaining. For example, throughout the entire Arthur Butz fiasco, only a single Daily cartoon focused on the fact that his last name is, in fact, Butz. We could have done better, folks. Let’s face it, sometimes you just need a good ole’ third grade chuckle.

I don’t mean to sound self-congratulatory or overly-philosophical. I just think that we need to take a step back from the shallow aspects of the world and appreciate the nothing that surrounds us.

So be sarcastic, mock and make fun. And don’t turn back.

Mike Platt is a Weinberg senior. He can be reached at [email protected].