I am aware of the tyranny of the immediate. We lived during the time Noyce, Moore, Grove, Hoff, et al, changed our futures and we could have, if nothing else, been employees of their company. They initiated stock sharing and options for everybody in Intel.
I contracted for a few months at Microsoft in Charlotte, NC. They have a help center there as well as Texas and Washington. Some of the long-term (10-15 years) employees were still making in the $20-$30 per hour range, but their stock sharing and options had long ago rendered them millionaires. One in the Excel group wasn't married (and never would be), had several dozen kids pictures over his desk. He was currently supporting them through various organizations all over the world at the then going rate of $19 per month each, basically his entire salary.
We indeed lived through a special time in history, and weren't really aware of it, mainly because of the tyranny of the immediate.
Another, more mundane example involves my experience with Chrysler. During the management of Lee Iaocca, Chrysler had dropped to near $1 per share when Iacocca was negotiating a special loan guarantee from the federal government. I thought to go down to the credit union of the company I was then working for, borrow a thousand or so, to buy 1000 shares of their stock. I got caught up in whatever were the tasks of the day, and forgot about it until sometime later. It was up to $10 per share. It finally peaked at $43 per share.
Yep, there is tyranny in the immediate.
