Marx and Engels were enthusiastic supporters of Darwin.
These last four weeks, I have read all sorts of things. Among others, Darwin's book on natural selection. Although it is developed in the crude English style, this is the book which contains the basis on natural history for our view.Since Marx and Engels believed their theory of an inevitable class struggle to be "scientific," it was easy for them to synthesize their theories with Darwin's pseudo-scientific theories.—Marx; December 19, 1860
Darwin’s work is most important and suits my purpose in that it provides a basis in natural science for the historical class struggle.
—Marx; 16 January 1861
I am amused at Darwin, into whom I looked again, when he says that he applies the "Malthusian" theory also to plants and animals.
—Marx; 18 June 1862, in a letter to Engels
If more "fit" animal species survive the struggle between species for limited resources, why shouldn't more "fit" classes of human beings survive the inevitable class struggle?
After all, under Marx and Darwin's materialist reductionism, human beings reduce to glorified animals, which, in turn, ultimately reduce to matter in motion. In their philosophical system there can be no right or wrong, only what is.
It's an unpleasant and inhuman thought, but the conclusion follows with logical necessity, based on their erroneous first principles.
Yes, all of that and more...but animals don’t engage in social engineering, they don’t sit in an office and plan the annihilation of a an entire class.
Do they?
Animal behaviour is based on survival. Marx was all about power-over. (Take the power away from some and give it others.)