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Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

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Coachella Concertgoers Please Return Your Woke Cards

Coachella+Concertgoers+Please+Return+Your+Woke+Cards
Rachel Tully

It comes to no surprise that the owner of Coachella is a rich old man that promotes anti-LGBTQ organizations, but that doesn’t stop people from attending his festivals.

Recently 78-year-old billionaire Philip Anschutz has gone under fire for donating a sizeable amount of money to three specific charities.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, the National Christian Foundation and the Family Research Council have been cut out from Anschutz’s donations because of their aggressive anti-LGBTQ agendas, and extreme pro-gun views.

Not only that but in 2016 he’s funded $63.7 million in grants to other organizations with the same ideologies that just have less aggressive campaigning, he also funds anti-marijuana and climate denial organizations.

Now the last thing that anyone ever thinks about when it comes to spending money is who and where their money actually goes to.

If asked, most Americans would probably say that most of the proceeds that come from their consumption of products would go to some rich old white guy.

And it just so happens to be just that for Anschutz.

Not too many people would recognize that name, but he happens to also own Stagecoach, another huge festival also located in Indio, California that’s dedicated to country music, Anschutz Entertainment Group Live, Goldenvoice and much more.

Although it’s almost impossible to escape the long arm of AEG Live, there are alternatives to support artists.

Simply going to their individual shows, benefit concerts or even other festivals that use the profits to better the world instead of attacking it.

Now Anschutz amassed a 13.1 billion fortune through his business’ and like some rich people he also gives a tiny fraction of that fortune to charities.

From what’s posted on the Coachella website we can see that some proceeds go to six charities.

It is a bit ironic that a majority of the concertgoers and artists are either part of the LGBTQ community or have conflicting ideologies with Anschutz, but still shell out the big bucks to attend his festival.

Whether they know it or not artists and concertgoers are helping fund these agendas.

How much do we really know about Coachella besides that it’s one of the biggest music festivals in America?

Tickets are incredibly expensive starting from $429 for general admission and $999 for VIP, when only a decade ago they were $165 a pop.

Not only that but you’ll also have to think about transportation, overly priced sleeping arrangements, food and water.

The cheapest way to go about it would still end up costing close to the thousand dollar range.

Is it really worth all the stress and money?

At the end of the day Anschutz will still be rich and there will be more Coachellas to come, so why even bother missing out?

Being able to exercise your right to challenge large corporations is the answer.

It started with Anschutz cutting off three organizations, later he might cut more groups off or we might end up boycotting Coachella as a whole.

 

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About the Contributor
Cesar Villa, Staff Writer
Cesar Villa is a Talon Marks staff writer. Cesar's interests are music, games, books, random facts, and cars. Cesar is exceptional at photography and communication with his fellow peers.
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    AnaniApr 25, 2019 at 11:03 pm

    It’s interesting how you don’t list actual alternatives to something you really want us to support. The truth is, is that AEG funds most of the smaller fests too due to owning Golden Voice, and backs individual artist’s tours. And the smaller fests have their own issues too, such as one of the CEOs of FYF being accused of sexual assault. A lot of the music fests and artists will lead back to the pockets of AEG. At the end of the day the actaul environment is a safe area for lgbt and hosts artists that support the lgbt community. The ending of your article was also very unnecessary and went back on your “woke” opinions. You just seem like a very salty person looking to complain about mainstream culture. The root of this problem is mainly about monopolies.

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