Some reasons why somebody with less than a decade left might pick a long-term stratagem: • On the basis of kin selection, they would pick policies that favor t

Some reasons why somebody with less than a decade left might pick a long-term stratagem: • On the basis of kin selection, they would pick policies that favor their offspring - preserving one's DNA contribution is a powerful motivator. • Possibly they're altruistic and want to leave the world a bit better than they found it. I've no idea what the frequency of such people is in the population, but I've met some, and I don't have that big a network. • Ego. They want to be remembered beyond their lifetime for having contributed to something notable. Think of the robber barons like Carnegie, etc., who endowed libraries.