Good vs. Evil

The other day i was watching a show called Lockup: San Quentin and it reminded me of our discussions whether mans nature is good or evil. In this particular show a camera crew goes to various high security prisons, in this case to San Quentin, but in other shows they go all over the country interviewing inmates whether they are on death row or in the minimum scecurity for that facility. When the inmates are being interviewed at first you wonder why they got in prison because they seem to be good hearted people but throughout the show it becomes more and more evident that they may talk smooth but in reality they aren't telling the whole truth. It reminded me of class because when we were studing Mencius everyone believed that his philosophy was right and a person always wanted to do good but when we studied Hsun Tzu everybody changed their views. I find myself doing this in these shows becuase one wants to think that they are really good people but as the show goes on it becomes harder and harder to believe that they can be good. In addition, in one case an inmate got in trouble and they always tell the cameras they didn't do and try to make themselves look better than they really are but when the evidence is revieled by the officers it almost always ends up in the inmate getting in trouble. Also when the camera crew interviews people who all they want to do is hurt people it brings in a new element that most people would like to believe doesn't exist. In one episode this inmate called himself Macgyver because he could make weapons out of anything things that would originally be thought harmless. This guy made a ice pick weapon out of Jolly Ranchers, yes the candy, he melted them down to make an ice pick them when they harden they could easily kill a person. Also "Macgyver" is always trying to hurt or kill somebody else he treats life as if it were a game and the object is to kill as many people as possible. When I see things like it is really hard to believe in human nature being naturally good but like Hsun Tzu I like to believe humans can be good with strict training and rules.