Murray Rothbard on one of the more problematic features of left-wing thought.

By Murray Rothbard

Mises Institute

The Whig theory of history began in the early to mid-19th century, and it has taken over: it’s still with us. It’s still dominant despite criticisms in the 1930s and ’40s.

Basically, what the Whig theory of history says is that history is an inevitable march upward into the light. In other words, step by step, the world always progresses, and this progress is inevitable.

Now, the Whigs themselves were kind of lovable. They were moderate classical liberals. And when they coined the theory in the 1830s, ’40s, and ’50s, there was a certain amount of justification for it: indeed, if they looked back on the past, things seemed to be getting better and better. There was an increase in freedom, an increase in civilization and standard of living and science and knowledge, and so forth and so on.

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