Hi!
The central idea of the metaphor was that the people in the lifeboat are the rich nations, whereas those that are drowning are the poor nations.
This metaphor is known as lifeboat ethics, and is used to illustrate the distribution of resources.
The metaphor depicts a lifeboat which is boarded by 50 people (the wealthy nations), and 100 people swimming in the surrounding water at risk of drowning. The 'ethical issue' is stirred by the fact that there is room for 10 more people on this lifeboat, and if the surrounding people should be taken aboard -and if so, what would be the conditions of such an act.
Hope this helps!
