"If human rights and equality exist "just because we say so," then activists are not able to persuade, only to coerce. They can force cultures to adopt Western, individualistic ideas of rights and equality by using money, political power, or even military force. But, the charge goes, all this is just the latest stage in the West's inveterate bent to domination and colonialism. Western nations are now doing what they've always done, but disingenuously now, under the banner of "human rights."