I know old people who are ready to die and in that sense feel that they've earned it, insofar as they've put in a good life, have struggled through old age, and

I know old people who are ready to die and in that sense feel that they've earned it, insofar as they've put in a good life, have struggled through old age, and would like to get to the end of it all. Not suicidal, but ready to move on to whatever is next. I agree this is not what the author intends by the term, but your comment "no one feels they deserve to die" is too absolutist, at least in my experience.