Boris Roschelkoff
Doctor of Economics and Modern History
Author of: The Third World on .5 Cents a Day: Western Culture's Fascination with Poverty (1988), Time Heals all Wounds: Preservation of Our Greatest Mistakes(1992), Upscale/ Down Trodden: How Depression Became Chic(1997), and The Final Rejuvenation(2001).
Born in 1958 in the former Soviet Union Dr. Boris Roschelkoff grew up being heavily influenced by the cold war. Intrigued by the vast difference between America and his home, he began to explore economics on the national level. His studies focus on how the oppressive and deeply traditional Russia was managing to keep pace with the rising super power, the United States of America. He figured that nuclear power was largely responsible for the boost to the two nations. He examined how America recovered from the three mile island incident and how Russia responded to Chernobyl. He saw that these places with forced preservation of frankly disturbing events were elevated to cultural phenomena. His fascination with American culture lead him to study the modern workings of Greenwich Village and the Harlem Renaissance. He then began to connect creative prowess and cultural influence with areas that are significantly depressed.
In The Final Rejuvenation Boris proposed that bad neighbor hoods be allowed to decay while fostering the arts, thus producing unlivable slums packed with playwrights and yuppies who want to feel hip allowing all to be equally over charged for studio apartments. This was met with much ridicule from his contemporaries. In an effort to show that depression was a viable plan for revitalizing a community Boris set off to find an adequate town to become the next hive of scum, villainy, and off off Broadway productions.