Saint James

Saint James the Apostle
July 25.
The Collect

GRANT, O merciful God, that, as thine holy Apostle Saint James, leaving his father and all that he had, without delay was obedient unto the calling of thy Son Jesus Christ, and followed him; so we, forsaking all worldly and carnal affections, may be evermore ready to follow thy holy commandments; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Caritas in Veritate

We have so wedded the ideals of capitalistic "free market" to our political system of a democratic republic that we cannot understand what the Holy Father asserts in his latest encyclical.
This is how Hunter Baker sounds at the Touchstone blog.
We seem to have made our own affluent lifestyle the irreducible minimum for human existence. Our eye-ball is a millimeter from our belly button. We cannot see how billions exist without Costco and Medicare. Yet, billions do exist without them...and it's not our mission in God's plan to bring the gospel of consumerism and affluence to them.
We also prematurely assume that the pontiff is suggesting form of socialism. Is this true? Are there other options besides the polar opposites of capitalism and socialism?

I have more thought to share in the comments if anyone wants to engage these ideas.