Reproduction and Socialism

Marx and Engels use 'reproduction' not only in its usual sexual sense, but also to characterise the day-to-day replenishment of an individual via nourishment, rest, etc. Thus, writ both larger and smaller, Reproduction is the general principle of continuity for the species and its members. Accordingly, insofar as any Means of Production is a means to the goods that ensure daily replenishment, it is also a Means of Reproduction. So, Reproduction is the Materialist counter to Idealist principles of History, e. g. Christian Messianism. However, it is also usually characterized as a survival instinct, e. g. as the Will to Live. Thus, the positing of Socialism as a goal of the Materialist concept of History requires a justification on survivalist grounds, which Marx and Engels do not seem to provide.