as to whether to obey the same set of morals. These moral issues lead to the question of whether or not a man is responsible for what his government does. I am inclined to believe that either philosopher would not think that the individual is fully responsible for the actions of his government so long as they do not participate in the government's decision-making process. It is possible to argue that, if all individuals (regardless of country) are responsible for their government's actions, then the ten thousand Serbians that are likely to killed by missile strike have warranted it, as they stepped outside the moral circle by allowing Milosevic to remain in power. As Kant would see it they have left the kingdom of ends by breaking their promise to treat others humanly by allowing an inhumane leader to remain in power. So as a result they are responsible for the actions of their government. Similarly, in the United States, while a man may vote for a particular set of government officials, it is not possible to know all of their hidden agendas and responses to events in the future. Furthermore, if a man is a pacifist and votes for only pacifist government officials, but is out voted by the rest of the nation for government officials who opt for missile strikes when diplomacy fails, he cannot be held responsible. It can be argued that it is a man’s duty to convince others that their beliefs were misguided and immoral. But to do that supposes that people are rational and will listen to a rational argument instead of personal beliefs and to politicians who sound good. Story, most often, is more powerful than argument. The fact is that the majority most often cannot be convinced. The government of the United States is also a representative democracy and its citizens can only try to elect the most qualified leaders. Unlike a direct democracy, it is not the job of the people to make policy (only to check power). Voters choose le...
