 What is morally salient about forward looking collective responsibility? Backward looking collective responsibility, as we have seen, is morally salient because of its association with blameworthiness. Forward looking responsibility is not completely removed from considerations of blame—we sometimes blame those who fail to take their responsibilities seriously—but it is not morally salient because blame sometimes enters the picture. Instead, it is morally salient because we think that such responsibility may, if taken seriously by those who are being held responsible, help to bring about a desirable (or better) state of affairs in the world.