Every December in recent years, I think back to the time when Jeremy Corbyn, then the leader of the opposition Labour Party in my adopted country, the United Kingdom, quoted from a New Year’s speech that had a familiar ring to it. “This year will be tougher than last year,” he said. Corbyn’s words were familiar because he was quoting Enver Hoxha, the infamous communist leader of my native country, Albania, who added, “On the other hand, it will be easier than next year.” The comment caused an uproar, with some seeing it as evidence that Labour had turned into a Marxist cult, while others decried its insensitivity to the traumas left open by Albania’s communist past.
#year
