ABSTRACT
Byselectionit'spossibletoproveordisprovealmostanythingaboutthe shiftersbutfivepropositionsseemtoholdtheirground:Untilundoneby circumstance-population,commercialtemptation,scowlsofdispleasure fromtheirPrince-theymanagedtoachievea'balancedexploitation'of theirenvironment,touseHansRuthenberg'sphrase.Through·the millenniatheymodifieditenormously,butwhatothermacro-faunahasn't? Asresourcemanagersthey'vebeenmoresuccessfulthanmost-H sapiens'survivalprovesit.Onalmosteverycountthey'vedoneless damagetothenaturalworldin20000yearsorsothanmodernagriculture hasinflictedinthelast200.Ineconomics'visionofthefuture,theirtime isrunningout.Butthereisstillmuchtobelearnedfromtheshifters.
