Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything - Going Karura (r)

Episode Date: August 9, 2020

My good friend Sean Cole guest hosted TAL this week and we spoke about my trip to Kenya for Going Karura so I am going to post the original again to the feed for the folks who may find their way here. While reporting in Nairobi, Kenya a group of striking Uber drivers turn your host on to a revolutionary strategy of resistance. Plus: stuck in a broken elevator!

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Episodes every other week at neverpo.st and wherever you find pods. This installment is called Going Karura. A couple of months ago, I took a trip to Kenya, to Nairobi. I was invited to work on a story about farmers and coffee. When I arrived, my host explained that I would mostly be getting around via Uber, even though the drivers were currently on strike. And it was true. Every time I called a car, one would show up in less than five minutes. But then, about three days into my trip, I found myself downtown near Arura Park,

where these striking drivers were protesting. At first, I was timid. One of the protesters, who was actually wearing a captain's hat, shouted at me through his megaphone, telling me that I wasn't going to find my Uber here. But I stuck around, and after a bit, I met a few drivers, and I took out my recorder. How you doing? My name's Benjamin. Nice to meet you. Same here.

There's what, maybe 300 people here? Yeah, yeah. 300? Yeah, more than 300. Wow, this is great. But I would love to hear about what you guys are striking for and what you want. Right now, what we are doing, it's total switch off on anything called digital cups. kwa kutumia kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa pay you base fare it's 150 in uber and out of that 150 bob per trip uber takes 25 percent the remaining we have in in kenya our fuel is more than 115 per liter the driver has to watch the car

because if at all he doesn't watch the car the client will give him uh one star and complete Kwa hivyo, kwa kutoka kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa k Number one, number two regulations, number three regulations. Even the CEO of a tax office, I think last year, June, he talked about that they're entering African market because there are no regulations. He said that. That's why we ran to our government now. We are telling them set rules, set laws that will regulate these guys because they're taking advantage of the gig economy. Get me? The sharing economy. Exactly. We are not fighting the technology, but we are saying that this technology should not come to enslave us. Their business is not really fit for everyone. It is crafted in a cunning way to really finish people.

Yeah, their business model is not fine. It's retrogressive. Only they are out to take advantage of other people. Yeah, their business model is not fine. It's retrogressive. Only they are out to take advantage of other people. It all comes to one thing. We are being exploited. How are you guys surviving like this? It's been a week and a half now. I mean, I wouldn't be able to pay my bills without work. How are you doing it? We are tired. We are tired. I have not even a coin. I have not made even a dollar from then. What am I doing in my family? I don't have another work. I am coming all the way to town every day. Will I walk home with nothing like today? I know that I am suffering. My family needs finances.

But I say that if I continue working like this, I'm not only going to suffer this time, but maybe inutumia kufanya kama hivyo, hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo hivyo Even today, if I don't go on Facebook, a driver said, posted that I am thinking of committing suicide. Yeah? A driver, who I know very well. And by the way, in this year, he's the second driver to post such a thing. He's saying, the way I'm looking at things, let me just commit suicide, because I don't see anything coming too soon. If this fails today, where are we? We are dead. I'm telling you these drivers around here. We will go and sleep at the gate. If they want to kill us, they kill us. We are ready to die for that. They come and shoot us as

Kenyans. We we are ready to do that. Now is the time to chase Uber out of Kenya. You guys should know that we are here. Yeah. Our grievances should be out. You thought I was looking for an Uber earlier. I saw you. You are looking for me. That's good, that's good. How are you doing? My name is Benjamin.

My name is Captain. Or you want my real name? No. Captain sounds great. My question is how do you win the strike? you want my real name? No. Captain sounds great. Yes. My question is, how do you win the strike? I want to know how you win. The first strategy that I use to win this fight is just to make noise as much as possible. You were shouting at me with your horn there. Yes.

If you want to show these people that these things, you are doing it with passion. wanaweza kwa mtoto. Kwa mtoto, wanaweza kutakua kwa Facebook, kwa media, kwa mtoto. Na hiyo ni kwa mtoto kutoka kutoka. Uber ni kwa kwa mtoto kwa mtoto. Kwa kwa mtoto, kwa mtoto. Kwa mtoto, nilikuwa kwa kwa mtoto.

Kwa mtoto, nilikuwa kwa kutoka kutoka kwa kutoka. Kwa hivyo, nilikuwa kutoka kutoka kutoka. Na hivyo, kwa kutoka kutoka. Kutoka kutoka kutoka kutoka kutoka kutoka kutoka. Kwa hivyo, nilikuwa kutoka kutoka kutoka kutoka. Kwa hivyo, nilikuwa kutoka kutoka kutoka kutoka. Kwa hivyo, nilikuwa kutoka kutoka kutoka kutoka. Kwa hivyo, nilikuwa kutoka kutoka kutoka kutoka. Kwa hivyo, nilikuwa kutoka kutoka kutoka kutoka. telling them my friend until we speak to the last voice we are not going to keep quiet so let me send the message to them that the captain is still there and he's going to be there and he's going to

do it better bigger and stronger yeah but i want to know how to win i want to know how you fight back that's what i really want to do how to win is I want to know how you fight back. That's what I really want to know. How to win is simple. Last week and this week, we have been having a 90% switch off. Yeah? If they were making $2 billion per day, now they are making less than $1 million in a day. So the switch off is really working.

It's working. Like, it's working. It's working. No, no. You see there is car here. Oh, no. Oh, no. We have a driver who has come where we are. We are in our strike zone. It's called wassalitis. Yeah.

What? Wassalitis. It's called in English, batreras. Yeah, yeah, yeah, traitors. I want to go see. This is how we deal with traitors. That's how we're going to deal with them. Let the car stay down, huh? Tell me what happened.

Just tell me. You know, it's audio. No one can see. What are we looking at here? We normally remove the nozzle, and then we remove the pressure. And the car is just flat there? No moving? But they are traitors. remove the nozzle and then we remove the pressure. And the car is just flat there, no moving. But they are traitors. That's how we deal with traitors.

So we are trying to confront him and ask him, are you still working while you're in strike? But he's claiming that he didn't know that there's a strike, which is a lie. There is no Uber driver who doesn't know that we are striking. But this guy who drove here is almost too stupid. Yeah, very, very, very, very. I mean, it's one thing to drive during the strike, but you don't go to the strike. That is crazy.

I mean, like, come on. And I feel bad, but not that bad. Yeah, I imagine some of them are driving because they have to. Like, they just, they have no money. No, they are not driving because they have to. They are driving because right now the surge is so high because most of us are not at work. So he's going to drive the car without no pressure, no air in it. This guy, he knew we are in strike. And the guy is coming. He's in the strike.

He must get it. Now this is the thing, he has to get it. I need, if they have to do the work, why should they pass through here? They want to test our emotions. Yeah, yeah, exactly, that's it. How can he come to where the people are striking and he can be carrying somebody there?

That's nonsense. These are the Judas and Zachariot that we are talking about. Because they are so poor, beyond their imagination. Yeah, they are dead when they arrive. They make it hard because you can't get everybody. Like if you can't get solidarity with all of the workers, then they keep winning. Bringing people together is the hardest thing in life.

Solidarity. Solidarity means even if your brother is arrested, you will go to pay him a visit. You will contribute to his release. That is what we call solidarity. Solidarity is when we sit down the whole day without having lunch and we go home knowing that we have sent a message. That is solidarity. So, all right, now I have a question for you. So, the last two days, I took some Ubers, I told you, you know, when I was here. So, I'm here till Thursday. I'm not going to take another Uber.

How am I going to get it? What do I do? Just find a taxi driver at the hotel? Yeah, that's okay. Or even you talk to an individual driver carola is the way we normally call it when you just take somebody and you are not using app we discuss the the prices between us and i take you that is carola that's great yeah yes can you explain that to me you know yeah, you know, yeah. You get a rider, you look at the estimate, you switch off the app, you go with the estimate,

so which means Uber will not get the commission. That's what we resort to. Now you're talking. It's our language. There is no company that is involved, that is what we call Kahura. So if I was to say to a driver, I want to go Kahura, is that how I would say it? Yes, yes. Can you go Kahura? That's great.

You can tell the driver, can you go Kahura? He'll understand. Uh-oh. After the strike, I decide to walk back to the hotel. I don't have any cash on me, so there's no way I can go Karura. Alright, wow, this is far. How am I going to do this? According to Google Maps, it's only a 30-minute walk to the hotel, but I'm going to have to cross some pretty big roads to get there highway sized roads it's kind of like never-ending traffic are we really going to be able to do this

and that's enough hey he just did it. How did you do that? I want to do that. All right. Maybe not. Yeah, this is really difficult. Here it is.

It's the brake. Oh, yeah. We made it. But yeah, to be honest, I would be so ashamed if I got in an Uber and one of those drivers saw me. First of all, they would definitely think that I lied to them, but it's more than that. I would be ashamed I would be really really ashamed great here's another highway that I'm gonna have to

cross in order to not take an uber oh my god this is just ridiculous. At this point in my story, it's about 5pm. The day is starting to wind down, and as I approach the hotel, I start mapping out my options for the evening. There's no ATM in the hotel, so if I want to give this Karura thing a try, I'm going to need to find a bank so I can continue my adventures. Because my friends and colleagues have all made it clear that I was not to walk Nairobi

streets alone at night. And ever since I was stabbed in an alley in Kingston, Jamaica, I've tried to pay heed to warnings like these. It's not like I was ever a fearless street-walking traveler. No, I've always been 100% clueless. In fact, what happened on that night in Kingston many years ago was completely my fault. I was the one who, after going to the ATM on the street, decided that I should take Crackhead Alley to the hotel because I knew it was a shortcut. The two kids who attacked me couldn't have been older than 12.

They started cutting the pockets out of my jeans to get the money I'd just taken from the ATM. When one of them grabbed my recorder, I hit him on the head with the bottle of ting that I was drinking from. That's when I got stabbed. In the belt. I was very, very fortunate. According to my phone, there is a Hot Nairobi bar on the 15th floor of a building three

blocks away from my hotel. There aren't any real reviews. In fact, Hot Nairobi is all someone had written on the Yelp page. But that was good enough for me. I had enough time to walk to this Hot Nairobi bar, have a beer, and walk back to my hotel before the sun goes down. And then, in the morning, I can get some cash and figure out how to go Karura. The building is desolate, a deserted office park. The security officer barely looks up at me as I walk past him to the elevator. When I get off at the 15th floor, I discover a bar that is also totally deserted.

There's just a bartender and one guy sitting at the bar texting on his phone. There's also a DJ booth and a disco ball, but the glare from the setting sun reveals it is filthy and cracked. After making sure that I can use my card, I take a seat at the bar and order a beer. The bartender asks me where I'm from. New York City, I reply. This makes him smile. Ah, the home of Donald Trump. I love him so much.

I don't know how to reply to this, but my eyes speak for me. I love Donald Trump, the bartender explains, because he moved the United States embassy to Jerusalem. We all love him here in Kenya because of Israel. Trump is the greatest, so much better than Obama. Obama is not a real Christian. He thinks he's better than all of us. I change the subject. I tell him about my afternoon recording with the striking Uber drivers and how they taught me about this new strategy of resistance, of going off app, or Karura. Ah, that is a reference to Karura Forest, the bartender says.

What's that, I ask? Karura Forest is in Nairobi. You can go there. This is where the Mau Mau rebels hid from the British in the caves during the war for independence. The Mau Mau were Kenyan freedom fighters. At this, the other guy in the bar looks up from his phone. What kind of nonsense is that? He yells. The Mau Mau were not freedom fighters. They were terrorists. They were

cowards, hyenas in the dark. They didn't want independence. They wanted to take Kenya back to the Stone Ages. He slams his phone on the bar and points his finger at the bartender. If you don't have a proper education, you shouldn't pretend to know our history. Then he swivels his finger like a gun until it's pointing at me. And you, you say you were recording in the park? What for? Are you a journalist? Kind of, I stammer. I'm a podcaster. The man snorts in disapproval. What is it about you, American journalist, he says.

Why do you all want to make Kenya look bad? No wonder Trump hates you all. At this, the bartender cocks his head and narrows his eyes. I finish my beer, get up, and say goodnight. As I walk to the elevators, the bartender calls out for me to use the one on the right. I get in and push the button for the lobby. As the doors close, I can feel the fading warmth of the sun. But it's not dark yet.

I still have enough time to walk back to the hotel before it's night. But then, the elevator stops. Hello? Hello? Hello? Do not worry. The technician will come soon to handle the problem. The maintenance technician's phone number is... 2.

Come on! The security officer in the lobby heard me. Hello! I'm stuck in the elevator. Wait, wait, wait, we are all there. What are we waiting for? We are still trying to help you. Thank you.

He was able to open the elevator, and I was able to climb out onto the fourth floor landing. Yay! Oh, man. That sucked. As we walk down the stairs, he tells me about how he'd once spent five days pinned down in a ditch when he was a child in Sudan because of the warlords who'd killed most of his village. According to my phone, I wasn't trapped in that elevator for more than ten minutes. We hug each other. I feel totally ridiculous.

He gives me his chair so I can sit down. The walk from the courtyard to the main street is about 200 meters at most, but I already know that I can't do it. It's dark now. I take out my phone and call an Uber. The driver shows up almost immediately. I'm too ashamed to look him in the face. When he pulls up to the hotel, I shuffle out and go up to my room and take my clothes off

and crawl into bed. I am totally defeated. The following morning, I go to the bank, withdraw some money, and call an Uber for Kavrura Chorus. Yes, I'm good, and you? Fine, fine. Hold on, wait, wait, wait. All right, so here we are. my ride is 380 okay? i want to give you 400 and we go karura. can i cancel? yeah. all right cool so i cancelled it?

yep. yeah i've never been there. you see there is two terms of karura. karura the ones you are going right now and then there is karura forest. Karura is a name of something like Karura Forest, you see? Yeah. Yeah. So that's what we wanted, right? Yeah, yeah. But I want to learn more about this concept of who named it Going Karura. You see, there are those people who are not in Uber or not in Taxify, so they are being called the Karura guys, you see? The ones who are offline. The Karura guys. So maybe that's why they get the name, okay, Karura, let's go Karura, you see? So did you drive during the strike? No.

Not at all? I've just started yesterday. Wow. After I saw it was a bit, it wasn't that successful. The reason why it wasn't successful is that we didn't have that total switch off. But if 100% we switch off 100%, I think it will be successful. Even within two days, it will be successful.

I think one day. Even one day, yeah. Just total switch off. They don't get any services at all. Because people will start complaining, okay, why are we not getting this? You see? And then they'll come on board. They'll say, OK, let's do this.

Let's agree. What do you want? Yeah. Get through here, right? Got it. Ah, wow, we're here. I can't thank you enough. I wish you luck.

That's for you all right i did it i i went Karura to Karura Forest. And now I'm going to find the caves and figure out exactly what Karura means. I don't know if I'm capable of going Karura. I just might not be in my nature anymore. I think I'm one of those people that likes to

think they're Karura, but in reality I'm I'm cell phone man. Fuck. that sucks. Okay, we are at the mouth of the cape. I really don't want to go in here hello hello

alright so I'm now standing in a cave in the Karura forest and I guess I'm thinking I'm gonna soak know soak up the the the true meaning of Karura but to be honest I'm like totally suffering PTSD from the elevator so I'm not exactly sure this is the best idea but here goes Here goes. Sure, I can see the revolutionary potential, but I can also see how the companies would very quickly be able to use AI

and identify the Karura revolutionaries and deactivate them or use drones with lasers to eliminate them. But yeah, maybe this is what the Mau Mau figured out. Maybe they came to understand that, you know, 100% switch off is 100% off the map, you know. They figured out that the best way to avoid getting imprisoned or tortured or ground in the colonial dust by the British was just to freaking hide.

But yeah, okay. I guess that just means I have a limited imagination and I find it easier to imagine the end of the world versus the end of the gig economy. Yeah, but it's not even really about imagination. There never will be 100% unless each one of us or me, myself, can find the courage to go deeper into this scary cave. All right. Let's do it

you have been listening to benjamin walker of Everything. This installment is called Going Karura. This episode was written and produced by me, Benjamin Walker, and Andrew Calloway. Special thanks to all of the amazing individuals I met at the Uber strike in Nairobi. And to Laura Mann and Gianluca Lazzolino for bringing me to Kenya last summer for a piece on coffee that will be airing on the podcast soon. The Theory of Everything is a proud founding member

of Radiotopia, home to some of the world's best podcasts. Find them all at radiotopia.fm.