A silly antidote for a meager thing such as a skateboard company, eh? What does skateboarding have to do with life, death and all that other crap. I mean it's just a stupid toy that kids play with and adults make millions of dollars selling them. I still get that feeling today. Sometimes when I meet someone new and they ask what I do I will say, "Oh I have a sporting goods company" or "a marketing company." Why? I don't know. Because a skateboard company doesn't even sound real to me. But it is real. Beyond belief I'm amazed at the significant impact skateboarding has made on the world let alone my own life. I always knew that skateboarding was something special. I just did not fathom how far it would reach into so many facets of the social fabric of humanity. But that's another topic for another time.

The point is that skateboarding is so much more than that word defines. Skateboarding should be called psycoanalystatisticalexperiprocessing or something more worthy. It affects your entire life. Shitting, eating, thinking, creating, working and of course the actual psychical act of riding the board. For me it all started there. Riding a skateboard gave me things that I never expected from it. It gave me a world of knowledge and experiences. I have met so many skateboarders throughout the world that are amazing people. Integrity, compassion, creativity, common sense. Skateboarding is like a window that gives you a better perspective on everything you do. I am telling you too much?

Foundation is named for the Foundation series of books by Isaac Asimov. It is a series of 5 or 6 books but I recommend reading the robot novels first. It is one of the greatest science fiction (reality?) works ever written. Get them!!

I would like to think that Foundation represents the alternative to everything else that is out there. Foundation is even an alternative to itself. Skateboarding always represented individuality more than anything else. Stand up and be your own.

Bottom line is Foundation is more than a skateboard company. It is a way of life. It's about how you are as a thinking carbon based life form on this planet situated in a hostile universe. It's about the once in a billion chances to do something unique and rare. Whether it's skateboarding, art, music, design or even the complexities of everyday living. Foundation idea anarchists. Our team riders are revolutionaries. Refusing conventional ideas, lifestyles, trends and striving for the best that life has to offer. You should too.

And remember, "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously."

-Tod Swank

This manifesto is an ongoing work.