If take this to an extreme example: If there are only a few water suppliers in the world who control most of the supply and they want to charge you 10$ for a water bottle, what options do you have? It might not be coercive per se (use of force) but you are forced into a decision.
Cartels and monopolies as you describe don't survive without government protection.
As I see it, there is no possibility of free markets existing without a government that protects the interest of those participating in exchanges.
Governments operate entirely by plunder and coercion. They do not protect free markets.
The problem is that politics are corrupt by markets as well, its a never-ending cycle where only a few benefit.
Voluntary exchange only occurs when both parties perceive a benefit according to their respective value scales. That is the defining feature of free market exchange. Consent is the core principle, regardless of our opinions as third parties.
I saw an interesting color code for activities referred to as "markets."
The white market is legal and moral. This is where most of us spend most of our lives.
The gray market is illegal, but not immoral. Working for cash under the table, for example. In the absence of political regulation and mandates, this would be no different from the white market. The only shadow is the threat of state violence.
The black market is illegal, and overlaps both the gray and red markets depending on context. In the case of vice, I argue that vices still are not crimes, and self-destruction should be discouraged, but not outlawed.
The red market is illegal and immoral. Assassination, slavery, forced prostitution, racketeering, than sort of thing. It overlaps with the black market and politics.
Politics is plunder and murder with a veneer of legitimacy. No more, no less. Saying "the market" corrupts politics conflates the realm of political plunder with the realm of voluntary exchange. It's like saying Lockheed-Martin and Raytheon are legitimate free market enterprises because you can buy stock in them.
I have a very different view than you and I would need long blog post to detail exactly my thoughts in a structured manner. I hope to be able to put it out next week, would love to hear your thoughts on it when its done
I'm open to discussion, especially if it's civil and honest. It certainly doesn't help when politicians and their propagandists pay lip service to both laissez-faire and socialism to justify de facto corporatism, militatism, and fascism.