I don't think a writer has an obligation to write about society and politics, although it seems almost inevitable that elements of their culture and opinions will make it into their writing. If quality of writing exceeds any other expectations, that's great - but it doesn't have to be a linguistic masterpiece to say important things. As Margaret Atwood writes, "there's one characteristic that sets writing apart from most of the other arts... its availability to almost everyone as a medium of expression." I couldn't judge the quality of my writing, but it must have value in that it can say something unique about the world.
I've never been in a war and I could only write about real war from a detached perspective, like Emily Dickinson. However, I would invent fictional wars which give me freedom to comment on war in general. The writer Philip K. Dick never participated in war, so in his anti-war short story 'Some Kinds of Life' he uses a science fictional war to represent real life wars. I'll write social and political critique allegorically in prose fiction, like this - and more literally in poetry or lyrics, inspired by punk bands like The Damned and Rubella Ballet:
I love the distinction you've made between value and quality. Just because a book isn't highly literary, doesn't mean it can't be someone's favourite book.
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