Tom,
I agree with Ian. And, I think most of us get to clubs after someone else has done work the are unhappy with......leading me to think that the passion members have for the course leads to the unhappiness as much as the work. Generally, many club members tend to dislike new things. Or, that some clubs perpetually make the same mistakes - either in underbugeting, too large a committee, etc.
The system of ethics isn't flawed. As you suggest, if the members had enough saavy to realize a gca couldn't produce their desired results, they could dismiss them at any time, and that does happen. They could realize after the master plan is complete but before construction and save those millions.
RG,
Tom is saying that he abides by the Golden Rule - treat others as you would want to be treated. Most of us do. It's a shame that somewhere in time someone felt the need to have to write those things down.
And, ASGCA is NOT a trade union, if there is even such a thing. There are unions and trade associations, and professional societies. ASGCA is the latter.