one of the great political myths is that conservatives see human
nature for what it is while liberals tend to be naively optimistic.
there is some truth to this, but naivete regarding human nature cuts
both ways. recently, david mamet wrote a piece in the Village Voice
on why liberalism is braindead because it trusts in human nature.
but, liberalism is just as skeptical about human nature as
conservatism is while conservatism is just as optimistic about human
nature as liberalism is. they mainly differ in their selectivism.

for example, liberals--by which we mean white liberals--are totally
skeptical of the human nature of white folks(especially heterosexual
white males). no matter what, white hetero males are always suspect...