As recommended by Athanasius Contra Mundum on a few occasions, I got around to reading Rerum Novarum after my daily segments of The Divine Comedy, The Mystical City of God, Residence on Earth (I agree not at all with Neruda's communism, but his works are nonetheless beautiful, and may inspire mine), and the Bible.

And what is there to remark? I certainly found no support for distributism, or any opposition to classes functionally distinct as capitalists and laborers generating production from others' capital (28). A system with laissez faire is fully sufficient for meeting Catholic morality and charity, as it warns several times against "...unwaranted governmental intervention...since circumstances of business, season and place are so varied, that decision be reserved to the organizations of which We are about to speak below..." (64). As you were wondering, later are mentioned "...the various confraternities, societies and religious orderswhich the authority of the Church and the piety of Christians have brought into being..." (73).

Besides the innumerable calls to charity, especially by the capitalists, there are of course a few aberrations from perfect nonintervention. In paragraph 16, the importance of private ownership of productive capital is discussed with the most clarity. However, all appearances suggest that this problem is solving itself, as home ownership is at record levels, even under super evil neocon Bush (if the case is different with family farmers, who are most specifically suggested in 16, please inform me of this). More importantly, paragraph 56 speaks of labor strikes as such: "In this matter it is more effective and salutary that the authority of the law anticipate and completely prevent the evil from breaking out by emoving early the causes from which it would seem that conflict between employers and workers is bound to arise". In the critical area of safety the law can intervene (59, 60), but otherwise Theodore Roosevelt-style forced negotiation and settlement would definitely suffice.

Conclusion: Tom Monaghan and friends are the future of America's ingenuity and economy- especially when the day comes that America will at last be majority Roman Catholic. This is also another reason to vote Republican over the typically statist, socialist Democrats. This all leads me to believe that the Church and Republican right have quite the same thoughts on individual freedom. I mean, this closing pasage could very well go in the Grand Old Party's official platform:

For you, brethren, have been called unto liberty. Only make not liberty an occasion to the flesh: but by charity of the spirit serve one another.- Galatians V:13

[For all wanting an update, the below Jewish girl was much pleased by her poem, which really made my day. However, this is no excuse not to pray for her conversion and eventual salvation, so please do so!]