Will mining centralize around one single miner? No one knows. This is why Bitcoin is still a risk.
But if this doesn't happen--if there remains more than a single miner--then the fee market does exist.
I think the point of contention is really about this conclusion.
My understanding is that it may also happen with several miners if they have an incentive to synchronize their mempools (with a mechanism like IBLT).
Do you agree that this conclusion applies to the way the network is now and the way it has always been?
I ask, just because I want it to be clear to readers that this "point of contention" is about a hypothetical future scenario. And that we already know that there are hypothetical future scenarios, such as mining centralized around a single super pool, that would be bad for Bitcoin.