There are quieter acts of rebellion too. Trying to build more self reliant communities would help to decrease the reliance on government institutions which is a big thing that keeps people passive. Also, in Asheville, NC they have a pretty built up local food chain, I remember when I visited there all the restaurants were big on buying local. There was some chain of discount food kinda stores that offered a lot of local produce to. That sort of assesses the problem that typically local food is inaccessible to the poor. I feel the post isn't terribly thought out but I'm just trying to say I think trying to create a comfortable living outside the intertwined system of business and government would give people more freedom to rebel. People my age could also vote too, I know I didn't this year.
Assuming that most millennials lean left (which they do), then yes, vote Democratic, or Green. But don't discount the primaries. That's where the Tea Party has moved the dial most effectively. If all millennials voted, Dems would be falling over themselves to demonstrate their liberal credentials. Elections are an evolutionary process. Votes are environmental pressure.
I don't think it'd happen in one election cycle, but if you change the political landscape of your local or state government than you'd be picking people that you felt were honest or educated to hopefully become career politicians. Fuck if I know who ran in my city/state this year though, so I don't know what the canidates looked like.
And here is a fundamental problem of the terminology. For you, that's a "quieter act of rebellion." For the author, that's "opting out": I think that's a flaw of the article: To be considered a "rebel" you have to be loud and endanger your life. Maybe this generation is just more prudent in their choices.Trying to build more self reliant communities would help to decrease the reliance on government institutions which is a big thing that keeps people passive.
The real rebels of our moment are the ones who simply step away from the system altogether, but you never hear about them. They are willfully marginal, off the grid, self-silenced. Their rebellions may as well never happen.