Does our society have a short attention span? The Long Now Foundation thinks so, but they are trying to change it. They have plans to construct The Clock of the Long Now, a clock designed to operate on a scale of 10,000 years. The Long Now Foundation hopes that this construction will become an iconic symbol that becomes embedded in popular consciousness, making long-term thinking more automatic and common.
In terms of policy, here is a question to which I've never heard a satisfactory answer: How do we set in motion long term policy initiatives in the absence of a dictatorship? Or the corollary: How, in a democracy, is it possible to reward politicians for long term planning, even on a 50 year scale, let alone 10,000?
That is a great question, and one I've often thought about. I remember thinking the only way to get around this issue was Plato's idea of "philosopher-kings", however our nature would make this too risky of a decision. Maybe the solution is setting up a democracy that doesn't restrict the number of terms you can serve? Then a president could conceivably lay the ground work for future generations? I know that is a flawed approach as well. Surprisingly, it is one of the toughest questions I've ever encountered.
Of course Plato thought philosophers were the fairest, smartest and most just; he was a philosopher! Lenin fancied himself a philosopher king. It took 2400 years from Plato's writing, but the world finally saw a real live philosopher king, and it wasn't pretty. One thoughtful commentary I've come across recently in regards to the Bolsheviks is that they didn't realize until it was too late that dreaming up policy and governing were not at all the same thing (something I think a lot of the so called think tanks in this country fail to realize, as well). Unfortunately, we also have seen unchecked "democratic" presidents. Robert Mugabe comes to mind, as does Chavez. It seems to be a general rule that when power is too entrenched that corruption takes root. The Chinese seem to be building an interesting government. I despise their views of free expression and environmental regulation (among other terrible policies), but they certainly make one wonder if state capitalism with one party that changes leadership periodically can, in principle, succeed. In this system, one man can't get too powerful, and broad policy initiatives can be executed across several administrations. They are far from perfect (and I don't want anyone to read this as a an endorsement of the Chinese government), but I think we can at least learn something from their system.
In regards to Plato, I don't think he had someone like Lenin in mind. From what I remember of The Republic he envisioned that philosopher-kings would be trained from an early age for rule and that one philosopher-king would be in charge at a time (it would be a collective rule). Of course, this is problematic, as any system seems to be. Your points about the Chinese system are thought-provoking. It will be interesting to see if they change their environmental and human rights positions when they have "caught up" to the developed world in terms of an average citizens living standards. Right now they are simply putting economic growth over any form of rights you can think of.
Some years ago, I would have probably viewed The Clock of the Long Now as misappropriated time and resources, as I put little stock in efforts that are aimed at 'raising consciousness'. However, over time I have become of the opinion that public perception can change and does change, and that zeitgeists are rooted in conceptual landscapes which are often manufactured, whether intentionally or not. IMO increased connectivity and big data are providing new frameworks for big- or long- thinking, and I believe there is much to be lost and won in the space. In the last five years, I have probably exercised my mental 'perspective-shift' muscle more than I did in the previous ten. Part of that might just be me getting a bit older, however, I suspect part of it has to do with the changing ways in which I engage the world.
I definitely agree that more people are starting to think long-term because of big data. Over the past few generations we have really come up with an accurate story of how our species got to where we are today. This allows us to change our perspective on the future and develop a more informed understanding of our relationship to both time and space. At the moment, I am really working hard to re-organize my expectations for my future life trajectory with data suggesting that I'll experience a different ageing process than my parents have.
My goal is 125 years. However, I do what I can to keep the focus on weeks and months, and enjoying what I've got for as long as I have it. IMO the long view really does mean thinking more about the present. Process is everything when the goal is beyond the horizon.