For me, it was writing a sci-fi story, but I hadn't even finished creating the "world" in which the story was taking place before I decided to ditch it. Here's what I had, but it was just starting to sound too damn stupid...might have been because I was half asleep.
A pill stops the body from aging and immunizes it to disease. The pill was initially meant to only be for the wealthy.
A person MUST be at least 21 years of age to take the pill, although there are some who give/force them onto children, for illegal activities. Most of whom are birthed illegally, when these “children” are discovered, they are eliminated.
Some jobs are for “life” until the person is killed or chooses to “retire” which is to choose to die. Military service is one such “life” profession, but is also one that people are bred for. Enlisting is optional for some, but the bulk of armed forces are bred and raised for combat. The combat forces are “reset” once every 31 years, with the exception being officers.
It is illegal to give birth to a child on your own, you must be approved, and wait for when a “Slot” is open for a new life to begin. Slots are filled with legitimate citizens, although there are non-approved births and children, these parents and children are hunted down. Once a legal child has reached the age of 21, they are offered the pill, but they can choose to be a Lifer, and live their natural course of life.
Crime is reduced dramatically due to the punishment system, but the crimes themselves are more brutal when carried out. When a couple doesn't want to wait for a Slot to open up, they will sometimes try to buy one. Buying or selling a Slot is a legal option, values differing depending on what area the Slot is in. However, some people attempt to have a child in order to sell their slot, which results from an “accidental” death of the child, and this practice is illegal. The other option, is to hire someone to simply murder a Slotholder, although it is not simple. Whenever there is a murder, their slot is not opened until the case is closed, whether due to the police declaring they cannot determine who is responsible, or capturing the person responsible, or at least someone to be punished for it. This makes frame jobs much more common, but detectives don't look for easy to close cases, they want the person(s) responsible, but sometimes get pressured into punishing an innocent person just so the slot can be opened.
Political office is only eligible to Lifers, and is still an elected position.