Why do so many Western intellectuals prefer totalitarian countries and their system of government?

Intellectuals tend to have the time and resources to think up very abstract and idealistic plans about what society should look like. These ideas work in theory, but in practice things are always a lot messier than they might seem. So the intellectual is tempted by the idea of a totalitarian coming along and forcing everyone to agree with their plan. They assume that once everyone is forced to see how brilliant that idea is, everyone will agree and everything will be great.

This has been a common thing for intellectuals since Plato, to Rousseau and right up to the current day. Whenever you hear someone banging on about everyone else are "sheeple" and how if they were in charge, they'd sort it all out, this is what they have in mind. They aren't always all that "intellectual" about it.

One great thing about democracy is that it offers a degree of insurance against all this. The best that Western intellectualism has to offer (people like Hannah Arendt, Jurgen Habermas) have always been keenly democratic. Ambiguity and uncertainty has its uses.

Western society is predominantly democratic, so I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that "so many" Western intellectuals prefer totalitarian systems.

Totalitarian systems are more common in Africa, the Middle East, China, Russia, etc.

I don't think they do. People opposing the overthrow Saddam were not supporting totalitarianism, as realizing that many would die just to install a DIFFERENT brutal dictatorship. Saddam offered to have UN supervised elections, a far surer road to democracy

Considering that Democracy was basically developed

& expanded upon in the West, I'd venture not many do.

Because the current state of affairs makes it clear that democratic forms of government simply don't work.

because poeple as a group are literally "retarded" and can be swayed to agree with anything if they are hyped up enough. Though this isnt to be confused with "working together" because they arent they are just conforming with the crowd and getting excited

having an education is no substitute for an absence of Christian moral principles.