The Lone Ranger as a Metaphor for the Psychoanalytic Movement from Conscious To Unconscious Experience

The two subjects we are taught to avoid if we expect conversations to remain polite are politics and religion. In political discussions, not only do we advocate our own positions while usually knocking another, our own self-esteem is often also on the line as an extension of the position we take. In addition, we argue strongly in order to gain as many adherents as we can, and try to dissuade people from supporting the other side. To be political is to be keenly aware of ourselves in relation to the issue or side we are taking, the opposing position, and where others stand on the matter. Such awareness is the domain of conscious functioning, an expression of what Wolstein (1974) termed our ego-interpersonal selves, though he also included preconscious experience within this self's functioning as well. In contrast, I present the position in this article, through the subjects of psychoanalytic practice and the fictional character of the Lone Ranger, that in unconscious functioning, a person is, in essence, one with what he or she may be expressing. Operating unconsciously, one is not aware of one's own self, the issue one is espousing, or of where others may stand in relation to it. While one may unconsciously strongly express something that may fall to one side of an issue or another, one is not, as is the case with conscious functioning, aware of doing so. Conscious and unconscious functioning are not mutually exclusive, but unconscious expression itself is apolitical. However, in proposing what I have, the act of actually asserting this position is in itself tantamount to assuming a political position on this issue.

Any assertion that one makes is political, including the present