" ... people who are not comfortable with independent thinking, unpredictable outcomes, nebulous reasoning, and uncertainty of any kind, much prefer rule-based, punishment oriented, simplistic, authoritarian governments."

That's so true, Ebbie, so very, very true!

I believe that it applies here in the UK too. But in the UK we have an additional factor which is the deep-rooted remains of our class system. Here the Right (Tories = the Conservative Party) win general elections, time after time, because, basically, they promise to keep 'the lower orders' (i.e. the poor, people on benefits, immigrants etc.) 'in their place'. Our largely right wing press encourage this type of thinking by a constant stream of stories about 'benefits scroungers', 'immigrants taking our jobs' etc. The Tories are, of course, rule-based, punishment oriented, simplistic and authoritarian. Until recently, the wildest Tory excesses were kept in check by an effective, democratic opposition but presently our democracy is in tatters and the opposition becomes weaker and more ineffectual by the day. Of course, Tory ideology has a much wider agenda than just 'poor bashing'. They are neo-liberals to the core. They believe in 'free markets', small state, low taxation etc. As Naomi Klein puts it, neo-liberalism is "a licence to steal". Hence more and more power and influence in our society falls into the hands of Big Business and the rich and powerful.