Well, Rod, it seems to me that if you’re going to address that point, you should at least consider a few things. One: It’s not necessarily true. Hong Kong is certainly free-market and hence non-lefty. And, many people — let’s start with Jefferson — think cities in general are terrible. Two: many cities become great because they aren’t liberal and become liberal as the rent-seekers and second-generation professionals take over. As with the West generally, liberal lifestyles are luxuries which can be afforded only after great wealth is accumulated. Three: Please don’t forget the hypocrisy and crypto-racism of many crunchy-liberal locales. See this column by Tom Sowell for instance. Four: Maybe these places are great because, well, they are great and, like many other things, liberals make them worse than they could be. Or, at least, they don’t always make them better.