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Matthew Hennessey\xa0joins\xa0City Journal\xa0managing editor\xa0Paul Beston\xa0to discuss Matthew\u2019s new book,\xa0Zero Hour for Gen X: How the Last Adult Generation Can Save America from Millennials.

More than a decade after the introduction of social media, it\u2019s evident that Silicon Valley\u2019s youth-obsessed culture\xa0has more drawbacks\u2014from violations of privacy to deteriorating attention spans\u2014than many of us first realized.\xa0For many millennials, though, who grew up with the Internet, there\u2019s nothing to worry about. And to hear the media tell it, this tech-savvy generation, the largest in American history, is poised to take leadership from the retiring baby boomers.

But a smaller generational cohort is overlooked in the equation: Generation X, those born, roughly, between 1965 and 1980, and destined to play the middle child between the headline-grabbing boomers and the hotshot millennials. Smaller demographically, they are reaching the age of traditional leadership, and they grew up in a less tech-dominated time. Matthew calls on America\u2019s \u201clast adult generation\u201d to\xa0assert itselfbefore losing its chance to influence the direction of the country.

\u201cAmerica stands anxiously on the cusp of an unknown future,\u201d Matthew writes. \u201cUnlike the baby boomers, Generation X\u2019s race is not yet run. Unlike the millennials, we remember what life was like before the Internet invaded and conquered nearly everything. In that memory resides the hope of our collective redemption, the seed of a renewal that could stem the rot, decay, erosion, and collapse all around us.\u201d

Matthew Hennessey is an associate editorial page editor at\xa0The Wall Street Journal\xa0and former associate editor of\xa0City Journal.