Consciously or unconsciously, we all want democracy as a primary principle of our political life and a form of government that are built on our general consent. Democracy is now not an optional choice but a mandatory one for those who want to live in a liberal, equal society. Indeed, democracy is always an amalgam of a strand of liberal philosophy, a fabric of equal polity, and a mode of democratic life, which has been fashioned and transformed throughout modern history. In particular, modern democracy as a historical entity, established alongside of the rise of nationalism and capitalism that collectively opened a new world of diversities, has enclosed a large multitude of heterogeneous individuals and their visions, desires, and practices in a certain geopolitical boundaries and social limits, thereby evincing its increasing yet unresolved complexities and contradictions.
  However, the ideal model of a democratic government—a government of the people, by the people, and for the people—is to remain nothing but a pure illusion unless we acknowledge the fact that there is nothing like easy democracy. As a matter of fact, any modern democratic republic cannot but encompass a multitude of diverse citizens and their conflicting desires and practices within social boundaries. That is to say, any democratic government run by the multitude solely for their common interests cannot be possible both theoretically and practically.
  However, to understand is one thing and to practice is quite another. Understanding the essential condition of diversities and conflicts that consist of democracy is not as difficult as practicing such dilemmas in real political circumstances. Such difficulty oftentimes makes us feel that democracy might be an impossible dream or vision. Thus, we tend to give up our efforts to be in pursuit of democratic visions and endeavors. Yet, it is such difficulty that makes us realize that there is no easy democracy; democracy must be difficult to achieve and should remain as it is. Hence, failures of democratic practices in our daily life are no problems; rather, they evidence the fact that our life is on the right track of genuine democracy.
  Then, we should try to feel more comfortable about how difficult our democracy would be. Suppose how difficult it would be for you to befriend people of different, even conflicting identities in reality. Suppose how difficult it would be for you to discuss important, urgent social issues with people of different, even contradicting opinions in reality. Suppose how difficult it would be for you to work with people of different, even opposing ideas and views for making a better future. These difficulties help us pave a new way for not only understanding but also practicing the possibility of a world consisting of heterogeneous individuals and their desires. This new way, only when it is always a difficult way to take, will guide us to a true democracy in which we can embrace and enjoy all possible differences and all different possibilities.