The counterculture of the 1970s was focused on breaking down traditional pillars, and stressing nonconformity. In many cases those involved in the counterculture were young people under thirty. They marched and pushed for civil rights, rejecting the previously established racial separation many of their parents had believed in. They overwhelmingly opposed the Vietnam War, and believed the country was coming close to nuclear annihilation. Anti-materialism, sexual freedom, women's and gay rights were all part of the counterculture.