That's not quite true. It's not because of the "modern age", but because of the "great countries" known as the Developed World.
In the Pharaohs age, there were people working as Farmers, but there were scientists too. There were also traders, and there were the possibility to become rich doing what you love (Example: prototyping a Pyramid). Certainly, this is not possible for everyone, but that's the case even today.
If there is a difference, it's in the Internet. I don't live in a Developed country, but I have a considerable set of options with the Internet.
Yup. If you examine history, you'll find that you didn't get rich being, say, a mathematician or scientist. You had to be rich to be a mathematician or scientist.
In the Pharaohs age, there were people working as Farmers, but there were scientists too. There were also traders, and there were the possibility to become rich doing what you love (Example: prototyping a Pyramid). Certainly, this is not possible for everyone, but that's the case even today.
If there is a difference, it's in the Internet. I don't live in a Developed country, but I have a considerable set of options with the Internet.