C. S. Lewis, in the opening paragraphs of Mere Christianity, says essentially that humans are basically evil, but that we tend to expect good from other humans, and be disappointed and angered when we don't get it.
"But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain--that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist." --Lysander Spooner, 1867
