Want change? Things have to get worse to get better

I once met a sweet old couple in west Texas who still felt sore at Mr Jimmy Carter. His crime? Enforcing the 55mph (88kmh) speed limit on the nation’s roads some four decades earlier.

Bashing the 39th US president,

who died on Dec 29,

was never just a conservative sport, though. He was a recurring punchline in too. This was harsh on a decent and often far-sighted man whose governing struggles – with inflation, with Iran – were largely outside his control. On the other hand, without that anger, that historic snapping of public patience at the end of the 1970s, there wouldn’t have been the corresponding appetite for new ideas. No rage, no Reagan.