I mean, if you're talking about a fantasy world where nobody dies, then yeah, I'm sure that society could balance things out perfectly to make it work. I just seriously doubt any society resembling our own that suddenly discovers immortality would manage that well.
Human population is somewhere between 500 and 6000 times what it was twelve millenia ago. The existence of death has not prevented population growth.
Current global birth and death rates are four born and two dead per second. Even if everyone stopped dying without birth rates dropping (very unlikely given how longer lifespans corresponds to lower birth rates), net population growth has only doubled. Overpopulation would remain an issue that happens and can be dealt with slowly.
This makes me think of Bacano where all immortality is almost complete. You can survive anything, live through anything, cannot die through mortal means. Only if another immortal touches your head, and thinks "I wish to eat" do they cease to exist. Their bodies dissolve into memories, starting from when the attack happened back to their birth until whoever devoured them now shares their identity, or if strong-willed, incorporates those experiences into their own while still keeping a sense of self.
But it makes it damn clear why it sucks. One character who betrays a mob boss, is punished and instead of being absorbed into non-existence which he's ready for, he's chained up in a concrete box, filled with water, sealed shut with more concrete, and tossed in a river.
And it gets brought up every novel for about a dozen installments, confirming that yup, the guy's still there, and still drowning in claustrophobia in a dark box that barely lets him be shoved inside.
It's still better than Mother 3's Absolutely Safe Capsule. Anyone who's played it knows what I mean.
For context, the guy was a tremendous Jerkass IIRC. But all the same I wouldn't even wish that on a Complete Monster.
There is no beginning. There is no end. There is only... Hooty.Guys, a huge spoiler just got revealed in an officially released clip. Go to the Spoilers and Leaks thread for more info, but I am warning you all to be wary of You Tube. This clip is 100% officially released.
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?And now we have a schedule of (most) of the Summer of Steven: http://www.regularcapital.com/2016/07/steven-universe-summer-adventures-new-episode-bomb-starts-18th-july/
It's unfinished, but it covers a good deal of it.
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?

The problem is, if everybody on the planet had access to immortality, overpopulation would skyrocket. And if it's not "true" immortality but merely a way to prevent aging or something, then a whole lot of people would end up dying from starvation and/or wars breaking out over resources.
If it was "true" immortality and nothing you could do could possibly cause you to die, that'd lead to the issue of people living in severe pain or being comatose forever, plus the planet would get even more overcrowded. Immortality would really only work if we had access to space travel and terraforming technology. And even then there'd still be risks like your spaceship breaking down in the middle of space and you ending up trapped in an empty void of nothingness for all eternity.
There's also the fact that by refusing to ever die, you're dismissing the possibility that your consciousness can persist in some different form after death, either from one of the many human religions happening to be true or partially true, or from it turning out that we all live in The Matrix or something. You never know.
edited 7th Jul '16 6:49:32 AM by thebandragoness
I've got Frozen, Spectacular Spider-Man, Crash, Spyro, and Paper Mario fanfics.