Yes. I was responding to the proposition that if these standards were increased even more they would then produce more 'honest' brokers and salespeople. But as I said, even the long education that lawyers must endure, and their strict licensure rules, and their very vocation of law, does not produce honesty or integrity. In fact, they quite often use their education and knowledge to confuse, dupe or swindle their clients out of money. I have had the occassion to use 6 attornies in my life, and even the more likable of them were absolute scoundrals in how they developed their "time" logs.
So my point is that no matter how stringent any RE broker education and licensure laws might become, it won't solve the honesty or integrity problems. People must be their own best advocates when making expensive purchases, and they especially must weigh heavily the pros and cons of taking out a big loan. In the end it will be their responsibility to repay it.
I don’t know where you both live, but I will tell you that such dishonesty are not tolerated in the states in which I have lived. A Broker cannot afford to have a dishonest salesperson’s license on his/her wall. That in itself self polices the industry.
I don’t know who your friends are who gave you this ugly feedback, but real estate has always been a competitive business, and not one for lazy slackers. Perhaps they were the ones whose licenses came off those walls, and are bitter because of it.