It exists all the while but it certainly took 20 years for it to register on my mind. I really feel it's a really shockingly diverse world out there. It's hard for a city dweller to peer across the skyscrapers into the 3rd world country to feel and sense their experience of life.
Life must have been too painful, too motivating such that people can travel across continents and try to influence the powers through their limited means, be it wearing a 'No Voice' gag to drive the message home.