I’m well aware. My point is that these ancient cultures all weren’t in equilibrium with nature, also cut down as much as they could, and also destroyed the environment for farmland.
They only lacked scale. Lets not paint them nobler than they are.
You are correct they lacked scale. They also lacked machinery. They lacked the loans taken out to buy the machinery. They lacked the urgency to repay those loans by profiting. That's not "noble." But it's very different at the level of needs and incentives.
They only lacked scale. Lets not paint them nobler than they are.