Thread by @wmnjoya

Hustling is a term that was popularized by hip hop. It originally referred to those working in the illegal economy. But with neoliberalism, the meaning changed, as Lester K Spence explains.

Neoliberalism meant the withdrawal of public support for social services like health and education. To cope with the harder times, the idea of hustling changed to make hustling sound like a requirement and a noble thing to do. So it was designed to discourage political questions.

Prof Spence's analysis applies to Kenya. The hustle represents those who are screwed by the economy, but who are not asking how the economy got there. A few years ago, the deepee said that he hustled his way to wealth, and that is equated to the hustle of the mkokoteni pusher.

So the hustle is disempowering because it makes the poor not ask how the rich got rich.

But the hustle narrative is not different from #bbireport that is also designed to disempower us from asking political questions.

Both mahustlers and bibiyai are rich people selling identity and solidarity with the poor as a substitute for politics. With mahustler, the rich tell the poor "I hustle like you." With the bibiyai, the rich tell them "You're rich like me because we're in the same ethnic group."

The only way out of this fix is to ask mature political questions about taxes, healthcare, education, inequality, impunity, historical injustice. Common identity with the rich doesn't pay the bills. We need to be the adults our politicians are not.