>>That's a joke.<<
I agree.
It is also exactly what has happened.
No it isn't - use some common sense.
I don't think men, in 1820 for example, had any more free time than people do today. In fact, they probably had a lot less because we didn't have welfare then and didn't promote sitting home on your butt over working your butt off. If you didn't work you didn't eat.
People also live a lot longer now, so we have millions of people who are retired and thus not working. The lifespan was shorter a century ago than it is today, so we have a lot MORE people who, if they wanted, could be politically active.
We also have people who are still students on their parents nickel at 25 years of age. We see them all the time at antiwar rallies and such. Did you see that in 1820 ? Nope, didn't think so. Why ? Because boys used to go to work around age 15-18 and girls became mothers by age 18 or so.