THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO VERACITY

La Vérité "Truth" by Jules Joseph Lefebvre

With all the controversy over the formation of the National Association of Contractors and Remodelers of America which was formed on the 29th of October, 2012 in Dallas, Texas it has been discussed and debated ad Nauseum concerning the facts of who has done what and who is who amongst the various players and the “interlopers”. You certainly know the one that we are discussing here that interferes with the affairs of others, often for selfish reasons; a meddler. It all comes down to the conformity to facts; accuracy: "the veracity of the story". It is the habitual truthfulness or in fact of "his veracity and character" that is really what is at issue.

Truth is most often used to mean in accord with fact or reality, or fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal. The opposite of truth is falsehood, which, correspondingly, can also take on a logical, factual, or ethical meaning of its own. This friend is what our fair group of interlopers has attempted to feed to us over the last couple of months.

The concept of the truth can be discussed and debated in several contexts, including philosophy and religion, but pure facts seem to be better understood within the realm of our industry. You know the saying “believe what you see not what you hear”. Those that were involved saw and believe what transpired and made their decisions to stay the course rather than let these “Interlopers” destroy all that had been accomplished.

We can continue to discuss the various issues and theories but in the end it is the views of the truth that will continue to be debated among the membership that will finally prevail.

The method used to recognize a "truth" is termed a “criterion of truth” and it’s the language and the words that are the means by which humans convey information to one another. There are differing claims on such questions as what constitutes truth: what things are truth bearers capable of being true or false; how to define and identify truth; the roles that revealed and acquired knowledge play; and whether truth is subjective or objective, relative or absolute. All this has to be taken into consideration when discussing the issues.

The interlopers have said they are in the right and only “they” have any “creditability” or “integrity” but as was said in the beginning it all boils down to “Veracity”.

Spencer K. Smartt
Founder and Charter Member
National Association of Contractors and Remodelers of America

INTEGRITY – SOMETHING THE “THREE AMIGOS”ASSOCIATION LACKS!

Integrity is a word often thrown about by many contractors in our industry but in reality do they really have any or do they really even understand what the word means? For most people the word “Integrity” is the concept of “consistency of one’s actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes”.

“Ethically speaking, integrity is regarded by most as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions and is usually regarded as the opposite of “hypocrisy”, in that integrity regards internal consistency as a “virtue”. With this concept in mind we wanted to assess whether or not the “Three Amigos” and their “bogus” group really have any integrity?

“Whole” or “Complete” are the words that this Latin adjective aspires to describe in the inner sense of "wholeness" deriving from qualities such as “honesty and consistency of character”. In as much, one may assume that others "have integrity" providing that they act according to the values, beliefs and principles that they claim to hold. Our friends at “NACRA.org” seem to think that only “They” have any “Integrity” and that everyone is to believe that just because “They” claim to have it, in reality “They” by their very actions prove otherwise!

What it boils down to is what is this group’s “Value” system and how can one judge for themselves whether or not they have any integrity or not. One can test a value system's integrity either: subjectively, by human constructs of accountability and internal consistency, or objectively, via the scientific method. We don’t have this “scientific” method available to us to make such an evaluation.

Integrity can also be referred to as having honor, being honest, being trustworthy and doing the right things. It is quite evident by the very comments made by our friends the “Three Amigos” where they brag about breaking away from the original group and forming their own group and by adopting the same acronym for the sole purpose of stealing from us our identity is “prima fascia” evidence that there is no honor, integrity or creditability within this group.

Now they have stooped so low as to copy almost verbatim our goals and mission as a group. The very ideas and objectives that we set out to achieve they are coping and adopting as their own. Creation of a new lead generation system now too seems worthy of consideration! Especially since it was part of our original goals that was considered nonsense when we were first discussing the formation of our association.

When discussing integrity one must take into consideration “behavior” and “morality” as part of the virtue of one’s actions when considering the very principles of integrity. We can describe a person as having ethical integrity to the extent that everything that the person does or believes, his actions and methods all derive from a single core value.

When evaluating integrity, accountability must be first and foremost as the measurement for which any value should be attached. The “Three Amigos” feel that they are accountable to no one and why should they have to answer for the dastardly deeds they have committed?

The bottom line is either you have integrity, which means you are honest and can be trusted by others, or you have no integrity and cannot be believed or trusted in what you say or do! Our friends the “Three Amigos” in my opinion cannot be believed and certainly cannot be trusted.

In the business world integrity must feature basic concepts of honesty and ethical behavior especially when marketing or branding one’s products or identity.  The "integrity" of a brand is regarded by most individuals as the most desirable outcome in the mind of their audience.  Having this brand taken by “dishonest means” thus becomes the pinnacle of hypocrisy!

Spencer K. Smartt
Founder and Charter Member
National Association of Contractors and Remodelers of America
Dallas, TX.