From 1990ish. Many poets just write about themselves, but social commentary is a larger view and understanding of the world we live in.
Many are the dead men and women of history, especially those unjustly killed by dictators, wars, and impersonal technology. Often mainly for the selfish/egoic whims and desires of corrupt, evil rulers.
Despite the above harsh, corrupt reality, many people do not live beyond their daily worlds of Tims, lattes, and relatively small/insignificant personal problems.
Joyce’s quote lives on with recent events in America, the Ukraine, etc. Our world remains an ambiguous, crazy mish-mash of what Northrop Frye called “wish fulfillment” underpinned by a surfeit of “anxiety dream”.