The stakes are high. For more than 100 years, the Big Three automakers have been a cornerstone of the U.S. economy and an important symbol of American industrial might. The auto industry is the largest manufacturing industry in America. And it’s not just the 239,341 employees of Chrysler, Ford and GM.

A Center for Automotive Research study conducted for the Motor & Equipment Manufacturer’s Association estimates that for every direct job at an automaker in the United States, there are 3.3 supplier jobs. These motor vehicle parts suppliers directly employ 783,100 people in the United States and are, in turn, estimated to generate another 1.97 million indirect jobs in industries ranging from steel to plastics to technical services. The spending by these employees generates yet another 1.7 million “spin-off” jobs. A total collapse of this industry could affect as many as 3 million jobs in the first year alone — almost 5 percent of total U.S. manufacturing jobs — and send shock waves through national and foreign markets.

But a “bailout” of the status quo is unappealing. Big auto has struggled for years. Once dominant in the domestic market, the Big Three now command less than 50 percent of the market, and even this share is in decline. Injecting cash into these ailing institutions has an air of reinforcing failure — pouring good money in after bad.

Furthermore, the U.S. automotive industry has been on the wrong side of almost every environmental, social and safety issue since the 1960s. The industry objected to the Clean Air Act, publicly opposed fuel economy standards, fought against seat belt and air bag legislation, dragged its feet on alternative-fuel vehicles and lobbied against almost every socially responsible initiative. Exactly why would the public want to bail out an industry that has failed in the market and been so unresponsive to the public good?

Maybe it’s time for America to buy some broad-based social benefits in return for public investment in these companies. If the U.S. government — on behalf of the people — is going to spend considerable sums of public money and incur public debt to keep these institutions alive, let’s insist on returns that benefit society as a whole, not merely Big Three shareholders, management and employees.

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