Ideally neither.

But if you ever face the choice, you need to regard credit card companies and other such institutions as a way the state outsources mastery over you.

It is nothing less than that.

The state makes unsecured debt possible and the state smashes the economy so that you can’t make budget. And the hold that the outsourced tyrants hold over you is far more severe.

Your only danger in welfare is permanent dependency. You can work to improve your income and reduce expenses.

But once you are in debt, you have to improve your income or reduce your expenses much more to pay off the debt and the interest.

In my opinion, it is a no-brainer.